Electrochemical “activation effect” to oxygen reduction reaction caused by long-time potential cycling process

[Display omitted] •It is found that a Pt counter electrode in acidic electrolyte would cause an “activation effect” during a long-time stability test for ORR.•“Activation effect” is ascribed to the deposition of Pt nanoparticles on the catalyst surface, which comes from the dissolution of Pt.•This r...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied catalysis. A, General General, 2019-11, Vol.588, p.117273, Article 117273
Main Authors: Song, Li, Ma, Yiou, Wang, Tao, Li, Linghui, Wu, Chao, Jiang, Cheng, He, Jianping
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Catalysts
Cycles
Deposition
Electrocatalyst
Judgments
Noble metals
Oxygen reduction reaction
Oxygen reduction reactions
Perchloric acid
Pt deposition
Stability test
Stability tests
Working electrode activation
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Summary:[Display omitted] •It is found that a Pt counter electrode in acidic electrolyte would cause an “activation effect” during a long-time stability test for ORR.•“Activation effect” is ascribed to the deposition of Pt nanoparticles on the catalyst surface, which comes from the dissolution of Pt.•This report provides a promising approach to improving the ORR activity of non-noble metal material by trace of Pt with this long-time CV deposition method. During the research on the durability of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalyst, we find the long-term stability test in perchloric acid electrolyte leads to an “activation effect” on the catalyst when using a Pt plate as the counter electrode. After 30,000 potential cycles, the carbon-based catalyst exhibits a positive shift of about 200 mV for the half-wave potential. By performing systemic characterization and analysis, we ascribe the “activation effect” to the deposition of Pt nano-particles onto the catalyst surface, which comes from the Pt dissolution during the potential cycling process. These results indicate the widely employed Pt wire/plate not suitable for the ORR test in acidic media, especially for stability test, which may bring about inaccurate or misleading judgments. In addition, this work also provides a novel method to decorate Pt particles on non-noble metal material to enhance the ORR activity by long-time potential cycling deposition.
ISSN:0926-860X
1873-3875
DOI:10.1016/j.apcata.2019.117273