# Argon Microwave Plasma Processed Electrodeposited FeCo Catalysts on Ti Paper as an Anode Porous Transport Layer (PTL) for Cathode-Dry Anion Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis (AEMWE)

## TL;DR

This paper introduces a new method using microwave plasma treatment to improve the performance of a catalyst in water electrolysis.

## Contribution

The novel use of argon microwave plasma treatment to enhance the electrochemical activity of FeCo catalysts on titanium paper.

## Key findings

- ArMP treatment reduces overpotential and improves Tafel slope for the oxygen evolution reaction.
- The ArMP-treated catalyst shows higher double-layer capacitance and lower charge transfer resistance.
- The cathode-dry AEMWE system with ArMP treatment achieves lower cell voltage at high current densities.

## Abstract

ED-FeCo/TP is synthesized
by the electrochemical deposition
of
FeCo on titanium fiber paper (TP) as the catalyst for the oxygen evolution
reaction (OER) in cathode-dry operation anion exchange membrane water
electrolysis (AEMWE). With 15 s Ar microwave plasma (ArMP) treatment,
the catalytic performance is enhanced. The ED-FeCo/TP treated with
ArMP (ED-FeCo/TP-ArMP15) exhibits an overpotential of 459 mV@100 mA/cm2 and an improved Tafel slope of 211.1 mV/dec, a higher double-layer
capacitance (2.80 mF/cm2), a lower charge transfer resistance
(1.10 Ω), and enhanced electrochemical activity. ArMP treatment
provides a reduction effect, leading to the formation of abundant
metallic Fe0 and Co0 in ED-FeCo/TP-ArMP15. The
cathode-dry AEMWE system with ArMP treatment (Ru/CP(−)//ED-FeCo/TP-ArMP15­(+))
exhibits better performance at higher current densities than the system
without ArMP treatment (Ru/CP(−)//ED-FeCo/TP­(+)). When applied
as the anode in a cathode-dry AEMWE system operated at 70 °C,
the cell voltage at a current density of 500 mA/cm2 decreases
from 1.88 V for ED-FeCo/TP to 1.79 V for ED-FeCo/TP-ArMP15. These
results indicate that ArMP treatment effectively enhances the OER
efficiency.