Nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes with high activity for oxygen reduction in alkaline media
- 1 February 2011
- journal article
- Published by Elsevier BV in International Journal of Hydrogen Energy
- Vol. 36 (3), 2258-2265
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2010.11.025
Abstract
Nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (NCNTs) were prepared using a floating catalyst chemical vapour deposition method. The multiwalled NCNT contains 8.4 at% nitrogen and has a dimension of 100 nm in the diameter and 10-20 nm in the wall thickness. The catalytic activity and durability of the NCNTs towards oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) were evaluated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and rotating ring-disk electrode (RRDE) techniques in KOH solution. In addition, the effects of KOH concentration on several ORR performance indicators of the NCNT catalyst, such as the number of electrons transferred, the diffusion-limiting current density, the onset and half-wave potentials, were also examined in electrolytes of various KOH concentrations, ranging from 0.1 to 12 M. Experimental results show that NCNTs exhibited comparable activity for ORR in alkaline electrolyte as compared with commercially available Pt/C catalyst, and much higher activity than commercial Ag/C catalysts. In addition, the NCNTs showed good stability from the potential cycling test, and the concentration of KOH had significant impact on the ORR performance indicators of the NCNT catalysts. \ua9 2010 Professor T. Nejat Veziroglu. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: YeKeywords
Funding Information
- National Research Council of Canada
- Institute of Fuel Cell Innovation
- University of Western Ontario
This publication has 47 references indexed in Scilit:
- Influence of heat treatment on the activity and structure of CoTETA/C catalysts for oxygen reduction reactionElectrochimica Acta, 2010
- Nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes as a cathode catalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline mediumElectrochemistry Communications, 2009
- Iron-Based Catalysts with Improved Oxygen Reduction Activity in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel CellsScience, 2009
- Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Nanotube Arrays with High Electrocatalytic Activity for Oxygen ReductionScience, 2009
- Novel catalyst support materials for PEMfuelcells: current status and future prospectsJournal of Materials Chemistry, 2008
- Oxygen reduction reaction activity and surface properties of nanostructured nitrogen-containing carbonJournal of Molecular Catalysis A: Chemical, 2006
- Preparation and characterization of electrochemical properties of air cathode electrodeInternational Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2004
- Effect of structure of the electrical performance of gas diffusion electrodes for metal air batteriesElectrochimica Acta, 2000
- Reaction intermediates as a controlling factor in the kinetics and mechanism of oxygen reduction at platinum electrodesElectrochimica Acta, 1981
- The solubility and diffusion coefficient of oxygen in potassium hydroxide solutionsElectrochimica Acta, 1967