Design Principles for Oxygen-Reduction Activity on Perovskite Oxide Catalysts for Fuel Cells and Metal-air Batteries
The prohibitive cost and scarcity of the noble-metal catalysts needed for catalysing the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in fuel cells and metal-air batteries limit the commercialization of these clean-energy technologies. Identifying a catalyst design principle that links material properties to the catalytic activity can accelerate the search for highly active and abundant transition-metal-oxide catalysts to replace platinum. Here, we demonstrate that the ORR activity for oxide catalysts primarily correlates to {sigma}*-orbital (e{sub g}) occupation and the extent of B-site transition-metal-oxygen covalency, which serves as a secondary activity descriptor. Our findings reflect the critical influences of the {sigma}* orbital and metal-oxygen covalency on the competition between O{sub 2}{sup 2-}/OH{sup -} displacement and OH{sup -} regeneration on surface transition-metal ions as the rate-limiting steps of the ORR, and thus highlight the importance of electronic structure in controlling oxide catalytic activity.
- Research Organization:
- Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE SC OFFICE OF SCIENCE (SC)
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC02-98CH10886
- OSTI ID:
- 1042280
- Report Number(s):
- BNL-97958-2012-JA; TRN: US201212%%691
- Journal Information:
- Nature Chemistry, Vol. 3, Issue 7; ISSN 1755-4330
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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