Abstract
In this work, hierarchical nanostructured Pr6O11 thin-films of brain-like morphology were successfully prepared by electrostatic spray deposition (ESD) on glassy-carbon substrates. These surfaces were used as working electrodes in the rotating disk electrode (RDE) setup and characterized in alkaline electrolyte (0.1 M NaOH at 25 ± 2 °C) for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), and the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) for their potential application in alkaline electrolyzers or in alkaline fuel cells. The electrochemical performances of these electrodes were investigated as a function of their crystallized state (amorphous versus crystalline). Although none of the materials display spectacular HER and OER activity, the results show interesting performances of the crystallized sample towards the ORR with regards to this class of non-Pt group metal (non-PGM) electrocatalysts, the activity being, however, still far from a benchmark Pt/C electrocatalyst.
Highlights
With the development of renewable electricity—a necessity to face the present fossil energy crisis and limit the harmful emissions of related greenhouse gases—the means to store this energy upon production peaks and to release it upon demand peaks is mandatory [1]
The electrocatalysts that can sufficiently and durably accelerate these reactions in acidic conditions are based on platinum group metals (PGM) [9,10], which conveys dramatic issues in terms of availability and cost of the electrodes
There are extremely vast numbers of potential non-Pt group metal (non-PGM) electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) [12,13,14,15,16,17,18] and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) [19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28], and metal oxides in the perovskite structure play a large role in this hot area, owing to their non-negligible activity
Summary
With the development of renewable electricity—a necessity to face the present fossil energy crisis and limit the harmful emissions of related greenhouse gases—the means to store this energy upon production peaks and to release it upon demand peaks is mandatory [1]. One very efficient manner to do so lies in the so-called hydrogen economy, where H2 (and O2 ) is produced in water electrolyzers (acidic [2], alkaline [3], or, if necessary, with advanced physical procedures to boost the reactions [4]), stored, and converted back to water and electrical energy in fuel cells. In these systems, the reactions of oxygen reduction (ORR). There are extremely vast numbers of potential non-PGM electrocatalysts for the ORR [12,13,14,15,16,17,18] and OER [19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28] (these examples being by-no-means comprehensive), and metal oxides in the perovskite structure play a large role in this hot area, owing to their non-negligible activity
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