Efficient electrochemical water oxidation in neutral and near-neutral systems by nanoscale silver-oxide catalyst

In electrocatalytic water splitting systems pursuing for renewable energy using sun light, developing robust, stable and easy accessible materials operating under mild chemical conditions is pivotal. We present here unique nano-particulate type silver-oxide (AgOx-NP) based robust and highly stable electrocatalyst for efficient water oxidation. The AgOx-NP is generated in situ in a HCO3–/CO2 system under benign conditions. Mircographs show that they exhibit nanoscale box type squared nano-bipyramidal configuration. The oxygen generation is initiated at low overpotential, and a sustained O2 evolution current density of > 1.1 mA cm–2 is achieved during prolonged-period water electrolysis. The AgOx-NP electrocatalyst performs exceptionally well in metal-ions free neutral or near-neutral carbonate, phosphate and borate buffers relative to recently reported Co-oxide and Ni-oxide based heterogeneous electrocatalysts, which are unstable in metal-ions free electrolyte and tend to degrade with time and lose catalytic performance during long-term experimental tests.