A New Spin on Electrochemical Water Splitting

Datum: 05.05.2026
Uhrzeit: 13:30
Vortragende(r): Emma van der Minne
University of Twente, NL
Ort: MPI CPfS
Raum: Seminar rooms 1-2

Green hydrogen produced via electrocatalytic water splitting offers a promising route toward sustainable energy, but its efficiency is limited by the sluggish oxygen evolution reaction (OER). A key challenge in OER arises from spin constraints: while reactants such as H₂O or OH⁻ are diamagnetic, the product O₂ is paramagnetic, making the reaction spin-forbidden.

Recently, this was well-recognized theoretically and the use of spin selective catalysts was described as a possible way to promote the OER. [1] Accordingly, multiple experimental studies have reported that applying external magnetic fields and optimizing the magnetization within ferromagnetic catalysts can enhance OER activity. [2,3] This work systematically investigates the influence of both external magnetic fields and long-range magnetic order within catalytic materials on their OER performance. By comparing ferromagnetic and paramagnetic catalysts under varying magnetic conditions and combining electrochemical measurements with advanced magnetic and spectroscopic techniques, we aim to disentangle conductivity, surface, and spin-dependent effects. This integrated approach seeks to clarify the mechanistic relationship between spin alignment and catalytic activity, providing insights for the design of more efficient OER catalysts.

[1] C. Biz et al., ACS Catal, 2021, 11(22),14249–14261 [2] Zhengjie Chen et al., National Science Review, 2024, 11(9), nwae314 [3] E. van der Minne et al., Adv. Energy Mater., 2026, 16(4): e03556