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Directional synthesis and catalytic activity evaluation of rock salt nickel oxides for the oxygen evolution reaction in anion exchange membrane electrolyzers
Hayes, Darius William
Hayes, Darius William
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2025
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2026-11-11
Abstract
This thesis presents an in-depth view into the development process of transition metal oxide electrocatalysts to be used in Anion Exchange Membrane Water Electrolyzers (AEMWEs) for green hydrogen production. To begin, a literature review was done to gain a robust understanding of the different structures of transition metal oxide electrocatalysts and the enhancement strategies used to improve their catalytic activity. The work done in this thesis focuses on the crystal and interface engineering enhancement strategies in particular. This review ends by highlighting that rock salt transition metal oxides electrocatalysts have not been as extensively studied as their perovskite, spinel, and layered double hydroxide (LDH) counterparts. A synthetic study was done comparing rock salt nickel oxide nanomaterials synthesized with different exposed surface facets and crystalline properties using either solvothermal wet chemistry or molten salt solid state synthesis techniques. The sharp contrast in OER activity between samples was attributed to agglomeration issues common to molten salt synthesis procedures, mechanistic differences caused by different surface coverages, and potential issues of ink dispersion. Finally, a study of the effects of Fe incorporation into nickel oxide and hydroxide nanosheets produced through a microwave-assisted synthesis was done. The nanosheets were tested with two electrochemical setups: rotating disk electrode (RDE) and membrane electrode assembly (MEA) cell testing. The difference in activity trends among the oxide and hydroxide catalysts between the two testing systems provided further insight into the relationship between catalyst property and activity among the
different testing environments. The results of this study indicated that Fe-incorporation can improve the OER activity of rock salt nickel oxide systems in ways different than the Fe-incorporation of NiFe-LDHs. Future experiments to support the insights gained in this thesis and improve electrocatalyst design
knowledge are discussed.
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