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The Influence of the Cation on the Oxygen Reduction and Evolution Activities of Oxide Surfaces in Alkaline Electrolyte

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Abstract

Understanding the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) mechanisms is critical to the design of future electrocatalysts for fuel cells, electrolyzers, and metal–air batteries. As parts of the effort to elucidate the reaction mechanisms, we report the influence of the cationic species on the ORR/OER activity of select transition metal oxide catalysts in alkaline solutions. Specifically, we use Li+, Na+, and K+-containing electrolytes to assess the role of the cation on the ORR activity of Pt nanoparticles and LaMnO3+δ, as well as the OER activity of rutile IrO2 and Ba0.5Sr0.5Co0.8Fe0.2O3-δ. We found that all these benchmark electrocatalysts share the same cation trends, where the presence of the smaller cation (Li+) always leads to lower activity. We argue that this finding represents the possible cation influence on the ORR/OER intermediate stabilization.

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Hydrogen Initiative program under award DE-FG02-05ER15728. J.S. would like to acknowledge Ziff Environmental Fellowship from the Harvard University Center for the Environment. E. E. P. was supported by John Reed Scholarship from the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program.

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Author notes

  1. Jin Suntivich

    Present address: Harvard University Center for the Environment, Harvard University, 24 Oxford St., Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA

    Jin Suntivich, Erin E. Perry & Yang Shao-Horn

  2. Electrochemical Energy Laboratory, 77 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA

    Jin Suntivich, Erin E. Perry, Hubert A. Gasteiger & Yang Shao-Horn

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, 77 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA

    Hubert A. Gasteiger & Yang Shao-Horn

  4. Department of Chemistry, Technische Universität München, 95747, Garching, Germany

    Hubert A. Gasteiger

Authors
  1. Jin Suntivich
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  2. Erin E. Perry
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  3. Hubert A. Gasteiger
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  4. Yang Shao-Horn
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Correspondence to Jin Suntivich or Yang Shao-Horn.

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Suntivich, J., Perry, E.E., Gasteiger, H.A. et al. The Influence of the Cation on the Oxygen Reduction and Evolution Activities of Oxide Surfaces in Alkaline Electrolyte. Electrocatalysis 4, 49–55 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12678-012-0118-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12678-012-0118-x

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