This study addresses a key challenge in Hydrogen Earth-Shot, i. e. how to reduce the low temperature electrolyzer capital cost for green hydrogen production by finding the low-cost, earth-abundant replacement to Ir, which is a critical material used to catalyze the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in commercial proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer today. The study consists of comprehensive investigations from new catalyst design/synthesis, electrocatalytic activity-stability testing, advanced structural characterizations, and computational modeling. The new catalyst demonstrated promising activity and durability in the operating electrolyzer. The characterization and modeling revealed the key insights behind its performance and the path for further improvement.

La- and Mn-doped cobalt spinel oxygen evolution catalyst for proton exchange membrane electrolysis (science.org)