CoO nanorods/C as a high performance cathode catalyst in direct borohydride fuel cell
By Jia, Junkang; Li, Xingxing; Qin, Haiying; He, Yan; Ni, Hualiang; Chi, Hongzhong
Published in Journal of Alloys and Compounds
2019
Abstract
Development of non-noble metal cathode catalysts was a continuous hotspots of fuel cell research. In this work, the CoO nanorods/C with different mass content of CoO were prepared by hydrothermal method and were investigated as cathode catalysts in direct borohydride fuel cell. The CoO nanorods exhibited an average length about 1–2 μm and an average diameter about 15 nm. The 10 wt% CoO nanorods/C achieved the best oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity compared to the 5 wt% CoO nanorods/C and 20 wt% CoO nanorods/C. The onset reduction reaction potential of the 10 wt% CoO nanorods/C catalyst toward ORR was 0.821 V (vs. reversible hydrogen electrode), and the number of electron transfer was about 4.01. The ORR on the catalyst was mainly based on an appropriate four-electron reaction pathway. The half-wave potential difference of the 10 wt% CoO nanorods/C after 5000 cycles was 26 mV, suggesting a good catalytic stability. The DBFC using the cathode catalyst achieved a maximum power density of 410 mW cm−2 at 60 °C. The experimental results confirmed that the CoO nanorods/C had excellent catalytic performance in DBFCs.