IrxCu0.5Ce0.5Ox/C nanocluster bifunctional electrocatalyst has high water splitting performance in acidic electrolyte

As an effective electrocatalyst for water decomposition, precious metals face limitations in widespread use due to their high cost. Incorporating other metals into precious metals to enhance electrocatalytic performance while reducing costs poses significant challenges. Within the realm of precious metals, Ir-based electrocatalysts have demonstrated remarkable catalytic activity for both oxygen evolution (OER) and hydrogen evolution (HER). This paper presents the synthesis of oxide-supported Ir-based catalysts containing Cu and Ce through a straightforward polyol reduction method. These catalysts exhibit notable OER and HER activity in acidic electrolytes. The addition of Ce increases oxygen vacancy, enhancing the catalytic performance of the optimized Ir 3 Cu 0.5 Ce 0.5 O x /C clusters, surpassing IrO 2 in OER with an overpotential of 274 mV at 10 mA cm −2 . Moreover, these catalysts demonstrate outstanding performance when utilized as cathodes and anodes in H-type electrolytic cells. Overall, this study represents a significant advancement in the development of novel Ir-based electrocatalysts. • The IrCu alloy was modified with CeO 2 . • Effect of addition ratio of each element on reaction performance of hydrogen evolution and oxygen evolution reactions. • Ir 3 Cu 0.5 Ce 0.5 O x /C clusters exhibit high activity and durability to hydrogen evolution and oxygen evolution in acidic electrolyte. • The alloying between Ir and Cu optimized the adsorption energy of the reaction intermediates, and the modification of CeO 2 increased the number of oxygen vacancies, leaked more active sites.