Nanoparticulate Mn sub(0.3)Ce sub(0.7)O sub(2): a novel electrocatalyst with improved power performance for metal/air batteries

• Published in: Journal of materials chemistry. A, Materials for energy and sustainability Materials for energy and sustainability, 2013-09, Vol.1 (40), p.12512-12518
• Main Authors: Tang, Yougen, Qiao, Hang, Wang, Haiyan, Tao, Pengpeng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2050-7488; 2050-7496
• DOI: 10.1039/c3ta12363d

In this work, a novel electrocatalyst, Mn sub(0.3)Ce sub(0.7)O sub(2), with relatively high power performance has been, for the first time, proposed for metal/air batteries. The as-prepared samples are well characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), inductively coupled plasma (ICP) and nitrogen sorption experiments. Meanwhile, electrocatalytic activity towards the reduction of oxygen of Mn sub(0.3)Ce sub(0.7)O sub(2) is compared with those of the pure MnO sub(2) and CeO sub(2). It is observed that the Mn sub(0.3)Ce sub(0.7)O sub(2) solid solution is well formed after the calcination. Electrochemical results show that Mn sub(0.3)Ce sub(0.7)O sub(2) exhibits much higher electrocatalytic activity in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) than pure MnO sub(2) under high discharge current density, which is probably attributed to the effective activation of molecular oxygen over the Mn sub(0.3)Ce sub(0.7)O sub(2) solid solution and higher surface area.