Iridium and Lead Doped Ruthenium Oxide Catalysts for Oxygen Evolution

The performances of ruthenium oxide-based oxygen evolution catalysts fabricated by various techniques have been studied. A thermal processing technique has been identified that can produce viable iridium and lead-doped ruthenium oxide catalyst. The best oxygen evolution performance was obtained with an iridium-doped ruthenium oxide catalyst with nine molar percent iridium. The cell voltage of the Ir(9)-d-RuO2 catalyst at an applied current density of 200 mA/cm2 was 1.45 volts at 70 oC. The oxygen evolution Tafel slope for doped ruthenium oxide catalysts are in the range of 40 to 55 mV/decade, a minimum of 10 mV/decade lower than what was found for ruthenium oxide.