Boosting Oxygen Production with Amino Acids: A New Way

Scientists have been trying to figure out how to make the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) work better for industry. They looked at a natural protein cluster in something called PS-II for inspiration. They mixed up different organic and inorganic bits to make new electrocatalysts using a hydrothermal method. The key players here are p-toluidine (PT), benzoic acid (BA), and p-aminobenzoic acid (PABA). When these were added to NiFe-LDH, the mix worked wonders. PT and BA have one job each, but PABA has two – it can both accept and donate electrons. This helped tweak the electronic structure and stopped metal from breaking down. The result? The overpotential dropped to 225 mV at 10 mA cm-2, and the Tafel slope was a low 38. 7 mV dec-1. Even at a high current density of 500 mA cm-2, this catalyst lasted over 550 hours in a 1 M KOH solution at 25 °C, keeping 96% of its activity. Computers confirmed this, showing how organic molecules can really help design better OER catalysts.