Synthesis and electrochemical analysis of novel IrO2 nanoparticle catalysts supported on carbon nanotube for oxygen evolution reaction

In this paper, we report synthesis of novel nanoparticle catalyst of iridium oxide supported on carbon nanotube (IrO2/CNT) and characterization of activity and durability for oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The IrO2/CNT catalyst was prepared from iridium complex and COOH-CNT by hydrothermal method. The synthesized IrO2/CNT catalysts was characterized by transmission electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, Raman microscopy, Fourier transfer-infrared spectroscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and electrochemical methods. The average particle size of the IrO2 particles on CNT is 1.7 nm and the loading amount of IrO2 is 4 wt%. The XPS measurement reveals that Ir complex was completely converted to iridium oxide through hydrothermal treatment. The IrO2/CNT catalyst showed sufficient performance for OER activity and durability in sulfuric acid solution. Our results indicate that IrO2/CNT is one of the prospective candidate catalysts for water electrolyzer.