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New Method to Boost Water-Splitting Catalysts

  • 04 Dec 2025

In December 2025, scientists at the Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences (CeNS), Bengaluru, developed an innovative method to enhance catalyst performance in water splitting—a key technology for producing clean hydrogen.

  • Their breakthrough addresses the long-standing challenge of the slow and energy-intensive oxygen evolution reaction (OER), which limits overall electrolysis efficiency.

Key Points

  • Focus on Coordination Polymers (COPs): Researchers worked on improving metal–organic coordination polymers, whose catalytic activity has been constrained due to water and solvent molecules blocking active sites.
  • Argon Plasma Activation: The team used argon plasma treatment to generate coordinatively unsaturated metal sites in COPs, significantly boosting their electrocatalytic activity without damaging the material.
  • Enhanced Structural & Functional Performance: Structural analyses—including XRD, TEM, and XPS—confirmed improved activity in Ni- and Co-based COPs while maintaining the integrity of their bulk framework.
  • Superior Oxygen Evolution Reaction Efficiency: Plasma-treated COPs showed lower onset potentials and notably faster OER kinetics compared to untreated versions under alkaline conditions.