A novel silver oxides oxygen evolving catalyst for water splitting

A novel silver oxides oxygen evolving catalyst (Ag-OEC) for hydrogen production by water splitting was formed in situ on an indium tin oxide anode, in a near-neutral potassium tetraborate (K 2 B 4 O 7 ) electrolyte. The catalyst exhibited high activity and low overpotential for O 2 evolution under mild conditions. The main functional composition of the catalyst was a redox couple of Ag 2 O/AgO. Catalytic activity during oxygen evolution was evaluated by cyclic voltammetry and Tafel plot. The effects of the concentration, temperature, and pH of K 2 B 4 O 7 solution on the catalyst, and the Faradaic efficiency of the oxygen evolving reaction were examined. The results show that the Ag-OEC exhibits excellent oxygen evolution properties, with an oxygen evolving overpotential of 318 mV at a current density of 1 mA/cm 2 .