Alkalinity of Non-precious Metal Catalysts for Oxygen Reduction

摘要

Low-cost oxygen reduction catalysts composed of pyrolyzed metal/nitrogen/carbon (MNC) compounds involve the association of metal atoms with nitrogen species integrated into a conductive carbon support. Currently, the nature of the active site is not completely understood due to complexities introduced by pyrolysis on high surface-area supports. The present work considers the impact of surface alkalinity on the activity of MNC catalysts prepared using a high-pressure pyrolysis method. It is shown that increased Bronsted-Lowry basicity correlates to more active catalysts.