Abstract
The oxygen reduction reaction in sulphuric acid on commercial carbon supported platinum and ruthenium catalysts as well as on a home-made carbon supported ruthenium selenide catalysts (RuSe x /C) was investigated. The RuSe x /C catalysts were synthesised using similar procedures to those found in the literature. A dependency of H2O2 formation on the selenium content was found using the thin-film rotating ring disc electrode technique, namely that the H2O2 formation in the typical operation range of a Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (0.7-0.4 V) on Pt/C is below 1% and 1-4% on Ru/C and RuSe x /C catalysts. Finally for comparing the intrinsic activities of the catalysts the electrochemically active surface areas were determined in-situ by means of copper underpotential deposition. Our results indicate a comparable activity of the present RuSe x /C catalyst to commercial Pt/C if the activities are related to the electrochemical active areas.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1455-1462 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Journal of Applied Electrochemistry |
| Volume | 37 |
| Issue number | 12 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 2007 |
Keywords
- Copper underpotential deposition
- Oxygen reduction
- Rotating ring disc electrode
- Ruthenium
- Selenium