Pyrochlores for Advanced Oxygen Electrocatalysis

Fuel cells (FCs), water electrolyzers (WEs), unitized regenerative fuel cells (URFCs), and metal-air batteries (MABs) are among the emerging electrochemical technologies for energy storage, fuel (H₂), oxidant (O₂), and clean energy production. Their commercial applications are hindered by the low oxygen reduction reaction/oxygen evolution reaction (ORR/OER) bifunctional activity (for URFCs and MABs), OER selectivity (brine electrolysis in seawater and Martian environments), and high cost of the benchmark electrocatalysts (OER: RuO₂, IrO₂ and ORR: Pt/C) which affects the performance and affordability of the devices. Low-cost electrocatalysts with highly symmetric ORR/OER bifunctional activity and high OER selectivity are crucial for large-scale FC, WE, URFC, and MAB application. Recent studies have revealed that tuning the structure of pyrochlore oxides provides a pathway to enhancing OER and ORR activity over a wide range of pH. Pyrochlore oxides commonly contain a cubic A₂B₂O_7-x structure with two types of tetrahedrally coordinated O atoms containing (1) A-O-A and (2) A-O-B types with a cationic radii mismatch of r_A/r_B > 1.5 and propensity toward oxygen vacancy formation. The variety of pyrochlore oxides and their tunable properties make them attractive for a wide spectrum of applications. Among all the metal oxides, Ru-based pyrochlores (e.g., Pb₂Ru₂O_7-x) exhibit the best bifunctional oxygen electrocatalytic activity, i.e., low bifunctionality index (BI), in alkaline medium. Furthermore, pyrochlores exhibit high OER selectivity in brine electrolytes due to the presence of surface oxygen vacancies, making them suitable for space applications (brine electrolysis on Mars) and coastal hydrogen generation. Their bifunctional activity and selectivity can be further amplified by (1) substituting “A” and “B” sites of pyrochlores (AA′BB′O_7-x), (2) tuning metal oxidation states of A and B by varying synthesis conditions, and (3) modulating oxygen vacancy concentration, each of which yield favorable structural and electronic variations. In recent years, research on the synthesis and understanding of pyrochlores has significantly enhanced their viability, offering a new horizon in the quest for economical and active electrocatalysts. However, an account that focuses on critical developments in this field is still lacking.

In this Account, we focus on the recent development of a variety of pyrochlore electrocatalysts to understand intrinsic structure-activity-selectivity-stability relationships in these materials. Recent developments and applications of pyrochlore-based electrocatalysts are discussed under the following headings: (1) modulation of crystal and electronic structure of pyrochlores, (2) structure–activity–stability relationships of different pyrochlores for OER and ORR, (3) development of OER-selective pyrochlores for brine electrolysis, and (4) the application of pyrochlores in electrochemical devices. Finally, we highlight some unaddressed issues such as the precise identification of active sites, which can be addressed in the future through advanced in situ and ex situ characterization techniques coupled with the density functional theory-based analyses. This Account provides foundational understanding to guide the comprehensive development of highly active, selective, stable and low-cost structurally engineered pyrochlores for high performance electrochemical devices.