Nanosized rhodium oxide for water oxidation: An organometallic precursor for the preparation of rhodium oxide

Electrochemical production of hydrogen from water splitting is a promising process to allow storage of intermittent energies. However, anodic water oxidation, which is a complicated four‐proton, four‐electron transfer process, affects the efficiency of hydrogen generation due to the need to apply large overpotentials. Herein, we synthesized nanosized rhodium(III) oxide by the thermal decomposition of a known rhodium organometallic precursor and characterized it using scanning and transmission electron microscopies, powder X‐ray diffraction, energy‐dispersive X‐ray, diffuse reflectance infrared and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopies, and electrochemical methods. The results showed that the nanosized rhodium oxide is a promising catalyst for water oxidation.