A Hybrid Material Combined Copper Oxide with Graphene for an Oxygen Reduction Reaction in an Alkaline Medium

Jiemei Yu; Taizhong Huang; Zhankun Jiang; Min Sun; Chengchun Tang

doi:10.3390/molecules24030441

A Hybrid Material Combined Copper Oxide with Graphene for an Oxygen Reduction Reaction in an Alkaline Medium

Molecules. 2019 Jan 26;24(3):441. doi: 10.3390/molecules24030441.

Authors

Jiemei Yu^{1

2}, Taizhong Huang³, Zhankun Jiang⁴, Min Sun⁵, Chengchun Tang⁶

Affiliations

¹ School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Jinan, 336 West Nanxinzhuang Road, Jinan 250022, China. chm_yujm@ujn.edu.cn.
² School of Materials Science and Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, 8 of First Road of Dingzigu, Hongqiao District, Tianjin 300130, China. chm_yujm@ujn.edu.cn.
³ School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Jinan, 336 West Nanxinzhuang Road, Jinan 250022, China. chm_huangtz@ujn.edu.cn.
⁴ School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Jinan, 336 West Nanxinzhuang Road, Jinan 250022, China. chm_jiangzk@ujn.edu.cn.
⁵ School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Jinan, 336 West Nanxinzhuang Road, Jinan 250022, China. chm_sunm@ujn.edu.cn.
⁶ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, 8 of First Road of Dingzigu, Hongqiao District, Tianjin 300130, China. tangcc@hebut.edu.cn.

Abstract

In this work, an electrode material based on CuO nanoparticles (NPs)/graphene (G) is developed for ORR in alkaline medium. According to the characterization of scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope, CuO NPs are uniformly distributed on the wrinkled G sheets. The X-ray diffraction test reveals that the phase of CuO is monoclinic. The CuO/G hybrid electrode exhibits a positive onset potential (0.8 V), high cathodic current density (3.79 × 10^-5 mA/cm²) and high electron transfer number (four-electron from O₂ to H₂O) for ORR in alkaline media. Compared with commercial Pt/C electrocatalyst, the CuO/G electrode also shows superior fuel durability. The high electrocatalytic activity and durability are attribute to the strong coupling between CuO NPs and G nanosheets.

Keywords: alkaline medium; copper oxide; electrocatalyst; graphene; oxygen reduction reaction.

MeSH terms

Catalysis
Chemistry Techniques, Synthetic
Copper / chemistry*
Electrochemistry
Graphite / chemistry*
Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
Oxidation-Reduction*
Oxygen / chemistry*
X-Ray Diffraction

Substances

Graphite
Copper
Oxygen
cupric oxide