ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
5 years ago

Controlling the Interfacial Environment in the Electrosynthesis of MnOx Nanostructures for High-Performance Oxygen Reduction/Evolution Electrocatalysis

Controlling the Interfacial Environment in the Electrosynthesis of MnOx Nanostructures for High-Performance Oxygen Reduction/Evolution Electrocatalysis
Chun Haow Kung, Akram Alfantazi, Pooya Hosseini-Benhangi, Elöd L. Gyenge
High-performance, nonprecious metal bifunctional electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction and evolution reactions (ORR and OER, respectively) are of great importance for rechargeable metal–air batteries and regenerative fuel cells. A comprehensive study based on statistical design of experiments is presented to investigate and optimize the surfactant-assisted structure and the resultant bifunctional ORR/OER activity of anodically deposited manganese oxide (MnOx) catalysts. Three classes of surfactants are studied: anionic (sodium dodecyl sulfate, SDS), non-ionic (t-octylphenoxypolyethoxyethanol, Triton X-100), and cationic (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, CTAB). The adsorption of surfactants has two main effects: increased deposition current density due to higher Mn2+ and Mn3+ concentrations at the outer Helmholtz plane (Frumkin effect on the electrodeposition kinetics) and templating of the MnOx nanostructure. CTAB produces MnOx with nanoneedle (1D) morphology, whereas nanospherical- and nanopetal-like morphologies are obtained with SDS and Triton, respectively. The bifunctional performance is assessed based on three criteria: OER/ORR onset potential window (defined at 2 and −2 mA cm–2) and separately the ORR and OER mass activities. The best compromise among these three criteria is obtained either with Triton X-100 deposited catalyst composed of MnOOH and Mn3O4 or SDS deposited catalyst containing a combination of α- and β-MnO2, MnOOH, and Mn3O4.The interaction effects among the deposition variables (surfactant type and concentration, anode potential, Mn2+ concentration, and temperature) reveal the optimal strategy for high-activity bifunctional MnOx catalyst synthesis. Mass activities for OER and ORR up to 49 A g–1 (at 1556 mVRHE) and −1.36 A g–1 (at 656 mVRHE) are obtained, respectively.

Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsami.7b05501

DOI: 10.1021/acsami.7b05501

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