Abstract
We investigated the performance of several carbon-supported RuxPty electrocatalysts for their alkaline hydrogen oxidation and oxygen reduction performance in the presence of carbonate and compared their performance with monometallic, carbon-supported Pt. Our results indicate a strong dependence of HOR upon pH for the monometallic Pt catalysts (22 mV/pH) and a weak dependence upon pH for the Ru-containing electrocatalysts (3.7, 2.5, and 4.7 mV/pH on Ru0.2Pt0.8, Ru0.4Pt0.6, and Ru0.8Pt0.2, respectively). These results are consistent with our previous findings that illustrate a change in rds from electron transfer (on monometallic Pt) to dissociative hydrogen adsorption (on RuxPty catalysts). Analysis of the kinetic currents to determine the rate-determining step via Tafel slope analysis provides additional data supporting this conclusion. There is no difference in the performance at comparable pH values in the presence or absence of carbonate on monometallic Pt indicating that water/hydroxide is the primary proton acceptor for alkaline HOR in 0.1 M KOH aqueous electrolyte. Finally, we observe no pH or carbonate dependence for the ORR on monometallic Pt. (C) The Author(s) 2016. Published by ECS. All rights reserved.
