TY - JOUR
T1 - Engineering Work Function to Stabilize Metal Oxides in Reactive Hydrogen
AU - Rehman, Abdul
AU - van de Kruijs, Robbert W. E.
AU - van den Beld, Wesley T. E.
AU - Sturm, Jacobus M.
AU - Ackermann, Marcelo
PY - 2025/3/13
Y1 - 2025/3/13
N2 - Hydrogen, crucial for the green energy transition, poses a challenge due to its tendency to degrade surrounding wall materials. To harness hydrogen’s potential, it is essential to identify the parameter(s) of materials that modulates hydrogen–material interaction. In a recent publication, we have shown that the reduction (denitridation) of transition metal (TM) nitrides in hydrogen radicals (H*) stops when their work function drops below a threshold limit. In this work, we tailor the work function of a complex TM oxide by tuning the relative contents of its constituent TM atoms. We show that increasing the fraction of a low-work function TM decreases the work function of the complex oxide, thereby decreasing its reducibility (deoxidation) in H*. This leads to the stabilization of the higher oxidation states of a high-work function TM, which otherwise would be readily reduced in H*. We propose that the work function serves as a tunable parameter, modulating the interaction of hydrogen with TM compounds.
AB - Hydrogen, crucial for the green energy transition, poses a challenge due to its tendency to degrade surrounding wall materials. To harness hydrogen’s potential, it is essential to identify the parameter(s) of materials that modulates hydrogen–material interaction. In a recent publication, we have shown that the reduction (denitridation) of transition metal (TM) nitrides in hydrogen radicals (H*) stops when their work function drops below a threshold limit. In this work, we tailor the work function of a complex TM oxide by tuning the relative contents of its constituent TM atoms. We show that increasing the fraction of a low-work function TM decreases the work function of the complex oxide, thereby decreasing its reducibility (deoxidation) in H*. This leads to the stabilization of the higher oxidation states of a high-work function TM, which otherwise would be readily reduced in H*. We propose that the work function serves as a tunable parameter, modulating the interaction of hydrogen with TM compounds.
KW - UT-Hybrid-D
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=86000185640&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/acs.jpclett.4c03404
DO - 10.1021/acs.jpclett.4c03404
M3 - Article
SN - 1948-7185
VL - 16
SP - 2592
EP - 2598
JO - The journal of physical chemistry letters
JF - The journal of physical chemistry letters
IS - 10
ER -