OER catalyst size effect in lab scale and device scale: an example study on CoFe2O4

• Main Author: Liu, Qingyi
• Other Authors: Xu Zhichuan, Jason
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2023
• Subjects: Engineering::Materials
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/166755
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Water splitting is a sustainable process to generate hydrogen which is a renewable and carbon-free energy source. However, the hydrogen production efficiency is limited by the high overpotential requirement and slow reaction rate of the oxidation evolution reaction (OER), making it critical to improve the effectiveness of the OER catalysts. Currently, reducing the catalyst particle size is one of the common catalyst modification methods, but the mechanism behind the relationship between the catalyst size and performance (the size effect) is complex and was mainly studied based on lab scale testing rather than the device scale which is closer to the industrial application environment. In this project the CoFe2O4 is chosen as a representative OER catalyst to study the size effect in both three-electrode single cell configurations and the membrane electrode assembly (MEA). The samples were synthesized with different sizes using various methods and were characterized using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronopotentiometry (CP) testing. The catalytical performance was then compared through the polarization curves and Tafel plots. The result of this project may provide insights for deeper exploration of fundamentals of the catalytical engineering and development of more effective catalysts.