Self-healing catalysis in water [Chemistry]

Principles for designing self-healing water-splitting catalysts are presented together with a formal kinetics model to account for the key chemical steps needed for self-healing. Self-healing may be realized if the catalysts are able to self-assemble at applied potentials less than that needed for catalyst turnover. Solution pH provides a convenient handle for controlling the potential of these two processes, as demonstrated for the cobalt phosphate (CoP_i) water-splitting catalyst. For Co²⁺ ion that appears in solution due to leaching from the catalyst during turnover, a quantitative description for the kinetics of the redeposition of the ion during the self-healing process has been derived. The model reveals that OER activity of CoP_i occurs with negligible film dissolution in neutral pH for typical cell geometries and buffer concentrations.