On June 2, Assoc. Prof. Zhang Wei from the Institute for Energy Research of Jiangsu University (JSU) published a paper titled Spin Crossover-driven Diiron Electrocatalyst Boosts Sustainable Water Oxidation in Nature Sustainability in Nature Sustainability. Prof. Tung Ching-Wei of Taiwan University is the co-first author, Zeng Xiaocheng of City University of Hong Kong and Chen Haoming of Taiwan University are the co-corresponding authors of the paper.
Electrocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide and water oxidation are promising technologies to mitigate environmental problems. A critical bottleneck, however, is the significant energy loss that arises from the anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) with its sluggish kinetics and reliance on scarce noble metals. This study report the reactive diiron electrocatalyst [Fe2(μ-O)(μ-OH)(L1)2], where L1 is a nitrogen-based ligand, which exhibits an outstanding performance — achieving a turnover frequency of 20.2 s−1 at 1.580 V and a low overpotential of 184 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm−2 — and exceptional stability over 1,000 h. This diiron electrocatalyst is formed via a spin crossover-driven dimerization mechanism, where the resulting diiron atomic configuration promotes strong metal-ligand covalency and facilitates the formation of key intermediates that are essential for efficient OER catalysis. This study offers a promising strategy for the design of high-performance catalysts for water oxidation and sustainable electrocatalysis.
