Issue 97, 2016

Effect of catalyst carbon supports on the oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline media: a comparative study

Abstract

Some carbon materials commonly used as electronically-conductive supports for catalysts in fuel cell research are Carbon Black (CB), multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT), Graphene Oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO). Here we present a comparative study into the relative effects of each of these on the performance towards the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in alkaline media. For the purposes of comparing the supports, a simple Pt catalyst is used and the performance is evaluated via Koutecky–Levich analysis and direct measurement of peroxide by rotating ring-disk electrode (RRDE) to determine the number of electrons (n) transferred in the ORR. It is found that Pt/CB follows a quasi 4-electron mechanism due to that the ORR takes place mainly on the active Pt particles, whereas Pt/MWCNT, Pt/GO and Pt/rGO exhibit a mixed behaviour between the two proposed mechanisms due to the higher activity of the graphene-derived supports towards the peroxide formation compared to CB. The effect of the oxide groups of GO and the metal impurities of MWCNT on the catalytic performance is also studied.

Graphical abstract: Effect of catalyst carbon supports on the oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline media: a comparative study

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
25 Jul 2016
Accepted
29 Sep 2016
First published
30 Sep 2016
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Adv., 2016,6, 94669-94681

Effect of catalyst carbon supports on the oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline media: a comparative study

M. A. Molina-García and N. V. Rees, RSC Adv., 2016, 6, 94669 DOI: 10.1039/C6RA18894J

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