TY - JOUR
T1 - An In-Depth Exploration of the Electrochemical Oxygen Reduction Reaction (ORR) Phenomenon on Carbon-Based Catalysts in Alkaline and Acidic Mediums
AU - Talukder, Niladri
AU - Wang, Yudong
AU - Nunna, Bharath Babu
AU - Lee, Eon Soo
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors acknowledge the research support from the Advanced Energy System and Microdevices (AESM) Laboratory at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). This research is also carried out in part at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory, which is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under Contract No. DE-SC0012704.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors.
PY - 2022/7
Y1 - 2022/7
N2 - Detailed studies of the electrochemical oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) on catalyst materials are crucial to improving the performance of different electrochemical energy conversion and storage systems (e.g., fuel cells and batteries), as well as numerous chemical synthesis processes. In the effort to reduce the loading of expensive platinum group metal (PGM)-based catalysts for ORR in the electrochemical systems, many carbon-based catalysts have already shown promising results and numerous investigations on those catalysts are in progress. Most of these studies show the catalyst materials’ ORR performance as current density data obtained through the rotating disk electrode (RDE), rotating ring-disk electrode (RRDE) experiments taking cyclic voltammograms (CV) or linear sweep voltammograms (LSV) approaches. However, the provided descriptions or interpretations of those data curves are often ambiguous and recondite which can lead to an erroneous understanding of the ORR phenomenon in those specific systems and inaccurate characterization of the catalyst materials. In this paper, we presented a study of ORR on a newly developed carbon-based catalyst, the nitrogen-doped graphene/metal-organic framework (N-G/MOF), through RDE and RRDE experiments in both alkaline and acidic mediums, taking the LSV approach. The functions and crucial considerations for the different parts of the RDE/RRDE experiment such as the working electrode, reference electrode, counter electrode, electrolyte, and overall RDE/RRDE process are delineated which can serve as guidelines for the new researchers in this field. Experimentally obtained LSV curves’ shapes and their correlations with the possible ORR reaction pathways within the applied potential range are discussed in depth. We also demonstrated how the presence of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), a possible intermediate of ORR, in the alkaline electrolyte and the concentration of acid in the acidic electrolyte can maneuver the ORR current density output in compliance with the possible ORR pathways.
AB - Detailed studies of the electrochemical oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) on catalyst materials are crucial to improving the performance of different electrochemical energy conversion and storage systems (e.g., fuel cells and batteries), as well as numerous chemical synthesis processes. In the effort to reduce the loading of expensive platinum group metal (PGM)-based catalysts for ORR in the electrochemical systems, many carbon-based catalysts have already shown promising results and numerous investigations on those catalysts are in progress. Most of these studies show the catalyst materials’ ORR performance as current density data obtained through the rotating disk electrode (RDE), rotating ring-disk electrode (RRDE) experiments taking cyclic voltammograms (CV) or linear sweep voltammograms (LSV) approaches. However, the provided descriptions or interpretations of those data curves are often ambiguous and recondite which can lead to an erroneous understanding of the ORR phenomenon in those specific systems and inaccurate characterization of the catalyst materials. In this paper, we presented a study of ORR on a newly developed carbon-based catalyst, the nitrogen-doped graphene/metal-organic framework (N-G/MOF), through RDE and RRDE experiments in both alkaline and acidic mediums, taking the LSV approach. The functions and crucial considerations for the different parts of the RDE/RRDE experiment such as the working electrode, reference electrode, counter electrode, electrolyte, and overall RDE/RRDE process are delineated which can serve as guidelines for the new researchers in this field. Experimentally obtained LSV curves’ shapes and their correlations with the possible ORR reaction pathways within the applied potential range are discussed in depth. We also demonstrated how the presence of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), a possible intermediate of ORR, in the alkaline electrolyte and the concentration of acid in the acidic electrolyte can maneuver the ORR current density output in compliance with the possible ORR pathways.
KW - cyclic voltammetry (CV)
KW - linear sweep voltammetry (LSV)
KW - metal-organic framework (MOF)
KW - nitrogen-doped graphene (N-G) catalyst
KW - oxygen reduction reaction (ORR)
KW - rotating disk electrode (RDE)
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U2 - 10.3390/catal12070791
DO - 10.3390/catal12070791
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85136259541
SN - 2073-4344
VL - 12
JO - Catalysts
JF - Catalysts
IS - 7
M1 - 791
ER -