Study of the Catalytic Activity for Oxygen Reduction of Polythiophene Modified with Cobalt or Nickel

• Published in: International journal of electrochemical science 2009-07, Vol.4 (7), p.1015-1027
• Main Authors: Rita Sulub, S., Martínez-Millán, W., Smit, Mascha A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: carbon-supported catalyst; cobalt; nickel; oxygen reduction reaction (ORR); Polythiophene
• ISSN: 1452-3981; 1452-3981
• DOI: 10.1016/S1452-3981(23)15203-5

Carbon black supported materials based on polythiophene and cobalt or nickel were studied as oxygen reduction catalysts. Polythiophene was chemically polymerized onto carbon black, and modified with cobalt or nickel salts to obtain carbon supported polythiophene-cobalt and polythiophene-nickel. For reasons of comparison, the precursor, unmodified carbon-supported polythiophene was studied, as well as unsupported polythiophene particles. In order to study the physical, chemical and electrochemical properties, TGA, SEM, EDAX and electrochemical methods were used. SEM images show porous materials with a particle size of around 110 nm for the carbon supported materials. EDAX tests confirmed the presence of approximately 7 wt% of either cobalt or nickel in the modified materials. Cyclic voltammetry confirmed the presence of ORR peaks in the cathodic area in all materials, except for polythiophene only. Based on kinetic parameters obtained using RDE tests and on electrochemical stability as determined from potentiostatic test, it was concluded that the material with best ORR catalytic activity is carbon supported polythiophene-cobalt.