Understanding Structure–Activity Relationships in Sr1–xYxCoO3–δ through in Situ Neutron Diffraction and Electrochemical Measurements

Yang, Tianrang; Matthews, Allison H.; Xu, Nansheng; Chen, Yan; An, Ke; Ma, Dong; Huang, Kevin

doi:10.1021/acsami.8b12943

Title: Understanding Structure–Activity Relationships in Sr_1–xY_xCoO_3–δ through in Situ Neutron Diffraction and Electrochemical Measurements

Journal Article · 25 September 2018 · ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.8b12943 · OSTI ID:1483181

Yang, Tianrang ^[1]; Matthews, Allison H. ^[1]; Xu, Nansheng ^[1];

^[2];

^[1]

Univ. of South Carolina, Columbia, SC (United States)
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

In this study, we report a systematic study on temperature-dependent local structural evolution, oxygen stoichiometry, and electrochemical properties of an oxygen-deficient perovskite Sr_0.7Y_0.3CoO_3–δ (SYC30) for oxygen electrocatalysis. The obtained results are then closely compared with its analogue Sr_0.9Y_0.1CoO_3–δ (SYC10) of different crystal structures to establish structure–activity relationships. The comparison shows that both SYC30 and SYC10 consist of alternate layers of oxygen-deficient Co1-polyhedra and oxygen-saturated Co2-octahedra with Co1-polyhedra being responsible for V_o^•• migration. It is also found that the distribution and concentration of oxygen vacancies within the Co1-layer are, respectively, less symmetrical and lower in SYC30 than those in SYC10, making the former unfavorable for oxygen transport. A molecular orbital energy analysis reveals that the energy gap between Fermi level and O 2p level in the active Co1-polyhedra is larger in SYC30 than that in SYC10, further suggesting that SYC10 is a better oxide-ion conductor and thus a better electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction, which is unambiguously confirmed by the subsequent electrochemical measurements.

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Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E); USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725

OSTI ID:: 1483181

Journal Information:: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, Vol. 10, Issue 42; ISSN 1944-8244

Publisher:: American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 4 works

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