Abstract
Accelerated electrochemical corrosion of nitrogen-containing carbon (CN x ) oxygen reduction catalysts was performed by a chronoamperometric hold at 1.2 V versus NHE in acidic electrolyte using a rotating disk electrode system. Cyclic voltammograms were used to measure the electrochemically active quinone/hydroquinone redox reaction couple indicating the degree of carbon corrosion. Half-cell testing of CN x oxygen reduction catalyst materials showed superior carbon corrosion resistance compared to Vulcan carbon, the most ubiquitous cathode catalyst support. When oxygen reduction activity was measured before and after carbon corrosion, carbon corrosion resilience trended with the oxygen reduction activity. CN x catalysts subjected to carbon corrosion testing did not show a change in the onset of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity potentials with only a slight reduction in current density, but showed improved ORR selectivity to the complete reduction of dioxygen to water.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Matter PH, Zhang L, Ozkan US (2006) J Catal 239:83
Lefevre M, Proietti E, Jaouen F, Dodelet J-P (2009) Science 324:71
Matter PH, Wang E, Arias M, Biddinger EJ, Ozkan US (2007) J Mol Catal 264:73
Matter PH, Biddinger EJ, Ozkan US (2007) Non-precious metal oxygen reduction catalysts for PEM fuel cells. The Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge
Matter PH, Wang E, Ozkan US (2006) J Catal 243:395
Matter PH, Wang E, Arias M, Biddinger EJ, Ozkan US (2006) J Phys Chem B 110:18374
Matter PH, Ozkan US (2006) Catal Lett 109:115
Bezerra CWB, Zhang L, Lee K, Liu H, Marques ALB, Marques EP, Wang H, Zhang J (2008) Electrochim Acta 53:4937
Nallathambi V, Lee J-W, Kumaraguru SP, Wu G, Popov BN (2008) J Power Sources 183:34
Subramanian NP, Li X, Nallathambi V, Kumaraguru SP, Colon-Mercado H, Wu G, Lee J-W, Popov BN (2009) J Power Sources 188:38
Wu G, Chen Z, Artyushkova K, Garzon FH, Zelenay P (2008) ECS Trans 16:159
Schilling T, Bron M (2008) Electrochim Acta 53:5379
Chung HT, Johnston CM, Garzon FH, Zelenay P (2008) ECS Trans 16:385
Gasteiger HA, Markovic NM (2009) Science 324:48
Shao Y, Sui J, Yin G, Gao Y (2008) Appl Catal B Environ 79:89
Bashyam R, Zelenay P (2006) Nature 443:63
Biddinger EJ, von Deak D, Ozkan US (2009) Top Catal 52:1566
Maldonado S, Stevenson KJ (2005) J Phys Chem B 109:4707
Jaouen F, Herranz J, Lefevre M, Dodelet J-P, Kramm UI, Herrmann I, Bogdanoff P, Maruyama J, Nagaoka T, Garsuch A, Dahn JR, Olson TS, Pylypenko S, Atanassov P, Ustinov EA (2009) ACS Appl Mat Interfaces 1:1623
Young AP, Stumper J, Gyenge E (2009) J Electrochem Soc 156:B913
Kim J, Lee J, Tak Y (2009) J Power Sources 192:674
Roen LM, Paik CH, Jarvi TD (2004) Electrochem Solid State Lett 7:A19
Chaparro AM, Mueller N, Atienza C, Daza L (2006) J Electroanal Chem 591:67
Mayrhofer KJJ, Meier JC, Ashton SJ, Wiberg GKH, Kraus F, Hanzlik M, Arenz M (2008) Electrochem Commun 10:1144
Weng F-B, Hsu C-Y, Li C-W (2010) Int J Hydrogen Energy 35:3664
Oh H-S, Kim K, Ko Y-J, Kim H (2010) Int J Hydrogen Energy 35:701
Liu ZY, Zhang JL, Yu PT, Zhang JX, Makharia R, More KL, Stach EA (2010) J Electrochem Soc 157:B906
Li X, Park S, Popov BN (2010) J Power Sources 195:445
Li L, Xing Y (2006) J Electrochem Soc 153:A1823
Kangasniemi KH, Condit DA, Jarvi TD (2004) J Electrochem Soc 151:E125
Shao Y, Yin G, Zhang J, Gao Y (2006) Electrochim Acta 51:5853
Wang X, Li W, Chen Z, Waje M, Yan Y (2006) J Power Sources 158:154
Wang J, Yin G, Shao Y, Zhang S, Wang Z, Gao Y (2007) J Power Sources 171:331
Li L, Xing Y (2008) J Power Sources 178:75
Bard AJ, Faulkner LR (2001) Electrochemical methods: fundamentals and applications. Wiley, New York
Boehm HP (1994) Carbon 32:759
Toebes ML, van Heeswijk JMP, Bitter JH, van Dillen AJ, de Jong KP (2004) Carbon 42:307
Cote R, Lalande G, Guay D, Dodelet JP, Denes G (1998) J Electrochem Soc 145:2411
Jaouen F, Marcotte S, Dodelet J-P, Lindbergh G (2003) J Phys Chem B 107:1376
Wang P, Ma Z, Zhao Z, Jia L (2007) J Electroanal Chem 611:87
Biddinger EJ, Knapke DS, von Deak D, Ozkan US (2010) Appl Catal B Environ 96:72
Kinoshita K, Bett JAS (1974) Carbon 12:525
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the support for this study from the US Department of Energy—Basic Energy Sciences through the grant # DE-FG02-07ER15896.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
von Deak, D., Biddinger, E.J. & Ozkan, U.S. Carbon corrosion characteristics of CN x nanostructures in acidic media and implications for ORR performance. J Appl Electrochem 41, 757–763 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10800-011-0292-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10800-011-0292-1