Laser-engineered Crystalline Rutile-Type Iridium-Tantalum Oxide with Enhanced OER Activity and Stability
7 affiliations
- 1Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg for Renewable Energy (IET-2, Cauerstraße 1, Erlangen, Germany, 91058
- 2Sustainable Energy Materials, Technical University of Munich, Campus Straubing, Schulgasse 22, Straubing, Germany, 94315
- 3Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ-CERCA), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST
- 4Department Chemical and Biological Engineering, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Immerwahrstraße 2a, Erlangen, Germany, 91058
- 5Institute of Micro- and Nanostructure Research (IMN) and Center for Nanoanalysis and Electron Microscopy (CENEM, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU, Cauerstraße 3, Erlangen, Germany, 91058
- 6Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM, Richard-Willstätter-Straße 11, Berlin, Germany, 12489
- 7Center for Photon Science, Paul Scherrer Institut, Forschungsstrasse 111, Villigen PSI, Switzerland, 5232
Abstract
Ir-M mixed-metal oxides with M = Ti, Nb, and Ta offer a route to reduce the use of scarce Ir while balancing activity and stability for the acidic oxygen evolution reaction (OER). However, conventional preparation routes yield either poorly controlled, unstable amorphous materials or highly crystalline, phase-separated oxides with low activity. Here, we report sub-3-nm crystalline nanoparticles of rutile-type IrTaOx. Ir selectively absorbs laser light, promoting rapid crystallization and atomic mixing with Ta under non-equilibrium conditions. With only 35 wt% Ir, the catalyst exhibits a mass activity of 449 mA mgIr-1 at 300 mV overpotential and a stability matching that of the most stable commercial IrO2 catalyst. Simulations attributed the stability to stronger Ta–O bonding at the IrO2(110) surface, reinforcing the oxide lattice and raising the energy required to form oxygen vacancies associated with Ir dissolution. This work demonstrates that laser-induced nanoengineering enables otherwise challenging crystalline, phase-homogeneous mixed oxides with improved noble-metal utilization.
Related
- Musical Sonification of Ligand-Engineered CsPbBr3 Quantum Dots with Enhanced Stability
- Exsolution-Engineered Ni-Based Titanate Perovskites for Dry Reforming of Methane: Activity-Stability Trade-Offs and Deactivation Mechanisms
- Eco-friendly synthesis and multifunctional characterization of ZrO₂/Cu₄O₃/MnO₂/CuMnO₂ nanocomposite with enhanced thermal stability and antibacterial activity.
- Cooling-Regulated Crystalline Structure for Enhanced High-Temperature Capacitive Energy Storage in PTFE Dielectric Films
- Nanoscale design of an ethylene tetraaniline-bipyridine-based crystalline covalent organic framework for enhanced hydrogen evolution reaction.
BibTeX
@misc{gopfert2026laserengineered,
title = {{Laser-engineered Crystalline Rutile-Type Iridium-Tantalum Oxide with Enhanced OER Activity and Stability}},
author = {Andreas Göpfert and Lulu Li and Yunsheng Qiu and Andreas Hutzler and Mattis Goßler and Philipp Pfeifer and A. Lucía Morales and Mingjian Wu and Erdmann Spiecker and Serhiy Cherevko and Ana Guilherme Buzanich and Martin Radtke and Aram Bugaev and Souriddha Sanyal and Huize Wang and Núria López and Marc Ledendecker},
howpublished = {ChemRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.26434/chemrxiv.15008137/v1},
url = {https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15008137/v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Laser-engineered Crystalline Rutile-Type Iridium-Tantalum Oxide with Enhanced OER Activity and Stability
AU - Andreas Göpfert
AU - Lulu Li
AU - Yunsheng Qiu
AU - Andreas Hutzler
AU - Mattis Goßler
AU - Philipp Pfeifer
AU - A. Lucía Morales
AU - Mingjian Wu
AU - Erdmann Spiecker
AU - Serhiy Cherevko
AU - Ana Guilherme Buzanich
AU - Martin Radtke
AU - Aram Bugaev
AU - Souriddha Sanyal
AU - Huize Wang
AU - Núria López
AU - Marc Ledendecker
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/01
PB - ChemRxiv
DO - 10.26434/chemrxiv.15008137/v1
UR - https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15008137/v1
AB - Ir-M mixed-metal oxides with M = Ti, Nb, and Ta offer a route to reduce the use of scarce Ir while balancing activity and stability for the acidic oxygen evolution reaction (OER). However, conventional preparation routes yield either poorly controlled, unstable amorphous materials or highly crystalline, phase-separated oxides with low activity. Here, we report sub-3-nm crystalline nanoparticles of rutile-type IrTaOx. Ir selectively absorbs laser light, promoting rapid crystallization and atomic mixing with Ta under non-equilibrium conditions. With only 35 wt% Ir, the catalyst exhibits a mass activity of 449 mA mgIr-1 at 300 mV overpotential and a stability matching that of the most stable commercial IrO2 catalyst. Simulations attributed the stability to stronger Ta–O bonding at the IrO2(110) surface, reinforcing the oxide lattice and raising the energy required to form oxygen vacancies associated with Ir dissolution. This work demonstrates that laser-induced nanoengineering enables otherwise challenging crystalline, phase-homogeneous mixed oxides with improved noble-metal utilization.
ER -