Supporting IrO on stable La, Nb-TiO2 with enhanced electron transport for efficient acidic water oxidation

A La , Nb co-doped TiO 2 @IrO x core–shell electrocatalyst enhances OER performance and stability in acidic media through improved charge transfer and electronic conductivity . • La , Nb-TiO 2 @IrO x core–shell electrocatalyst synthesized via hydrothermal method. • La, Nb-doping increases the electronic conductivity of TiO 2 . • La, Nb-TiO 2 @IrO x outperforms undoped counterparts in acidic water electrolysis. • La, Nb-doping optimizes the charge transfer and enhancing the OER efficiency. In the evolution of proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis, the development of durable electrocatalysts for the acidic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is crucial. This work introduces an electrocatalyst with a core–shell architecture, consisting of amorphous iridium oxide (IrO x ) supported on lanthanum (La) and niobium (Nb) co-doped titanium dioxide (denoted as La, Nb-TiO 2 @IrO x ). The resultant La, Nb-TiO 2 @IrO x , synthesized via a hydrothermal method, exhibits enhanced OER activity and remarkable durability in acidic media. The theoretical calculations provide insight into the enhanced performance of La, Nb-TiO 2 @IrO x , revealing a narrowed bandgap and improved conductivity due to co-doping. Additionally, there is an increase in charge transfer and binding energy at the heterointerface. As a result, electrochemical evaluations show a significant reduction in overpotential and enhancement in long-term stability, achieving an overpotential of 234 mV at 10 mA cm −2 and maintaining impressive stability for 150 h. These findings underscore the potential of La, Nb-TiO 2 as a robust platform for acidic OER electrocatalysts, offering valuable insights into the design of durable and efficient systems for energy conversion applications and advancing the development of next-generation technologies.