The research team led by Biaobiao Zhang at the Center for Artificial Photosynthesis and Solar Fuels, Westlake University, in collaboration with Licheng Sun's group, recently published a paper in Nature Communications. The paper is titled "Lanthanum-assisted lattice anchoring of iridium in Co₃O₄ for efficient oxygen evolution reaction in low-iridium water electrolysis."
The study introduces a lanthanum-assisted lattice anchoring strategy that stably incorporates iridium single atoms into the surface lattice of Co₃O₄. This approach resolves the activity–stability trade-off in low-iridium oxygen evolution catalysts, enabling ultralow iridium loading (0.2 mg cm⁻⟡) while achieving industrial-level performance (1.61 V at 1.0 A cm⁻⟡) and over 1000 hours of stable operation in proton exchange membrane water electrolysis.
Ph.D. student Zhuoming Wei from Westlake University is the first author. Biaobiao Zhang (Principal Investigator, Center for Artificial Photosynthesis and Solar Fuels) and Assistant Researcher Yunxuan Ding from Westlake University are the co-corresponding authors.