Advanced electrocatalyst for OER by laser treatment of BaCo-oxide powders

Hydrogen as energy carrier and essential element for production of basic industrial chemicals and substances stays in the focus of the current fundamental and applied research. The most reliable, and at the same time environmentally friendly way for its production is the electrochemical water splitting, and particularly the alkaline water electrolysis. One of the major challenges for industrial implementation of this process is the still high energy losses and related production costs. To solve this issue, finding cheaper and more efficient catalytic materials which are able to operate under industrial conditions is an essential requirement. In this work, we present a laser based sintering processing and analyze the performance of perovskite electrocatalytic material BaCoO3-δ:Ti / CoOxfor the oxygen evolution reaction, operating at 73 °C and 1 M KOH. A two-step formation route was used for the powder synthesis and the influence of a Nd:YAG (1064 nm) laser sintering process on the catalyst performance and stability was examined. The effect of power and scanning velocity of the laser sintering of catalyst structure and surface condition was studied. The evaluation of End of Service Life Test was carried out along with tracking structural and chemical changes in the oxide system, revealing Co3+/Co4+-containing phase composition stability. Chemical step (adsorption of *OOH) was found to be rate determining of OER in this catalytic system. The material exhibits a high lifetime, achieving <0.430 mA / cm2 h, (current density decrease per hour) degradation rate, evidencing the advantages of the laser treated BCT/CO as efficient material for a long-term OER at industrial relevant conditions.