The Effect of Oxidation Temperature for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction Activity of Defective Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNT)

Abstract

Previously, our multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) defect-making process did not change the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity of the nanotubes. A possible reason for this could be the inability to form active sites at low temperatures under an oxygen atmosphere. Therefore, to study the influence of the defect structure on the ORR properties, we investigated the oxidation temperature dependence of the ORR activity with different defect degrees via changing the oxidation temperature using an infrared radiation heater. The defect degree was found to be related with oxidation temperature, and different defect degrees, which led to different ORR activities. This study clarified that making defective structures on MWCNT could increase the ORR activity up to 0.76 V vs reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE). Moreover, this research also indicated that surface functional groups of defective MWCNTs did not directly bring benefits to the ORR activity.