Abstract
The water oxidation reaction (or oxygen evolution reaction, OER) plays a critical role in green hydrogen production via water splitting, electrochemical CO2 reduction, and nitrogen fixation. The four-electron and four-proton transfer OER process involves multiple reaction intermediates and elementary steps that lead to sluggish kinetics; therefore, a high overpotential is necessary to drive the reaction. Among the different water-splitting electro-lyzers, the proton exchange membrane type electrolyzer has greater advantages, but its anode catalysts are limited to iridium-based materials. The iridium catalyst has been extensively studied in recent years due to its balanced activity and stability for acidic OER, and many exciting signs of progress have been made. In this review, the surface and bulk Pourbaix diagrams of iridium species in an aqueous solution are introduced. The iridium-based catalysts, including metallic or oxides, amorphous or crystalline, single crystals, atomically dispersed or nanostructured, and iridium compounds for OER, are then elaborated. The latest progress of active sites, reaction intermediates, reaction kinetics, and elementary steps is summarized. Finally, future research directions regarding iridium catalysts for acidic OER are discussed.