1551
Electrochemical Behavior Characterization of Metal Oxide Catalysts for Oer in Alkaline Media

Sunday, 30 September 2018: 17:20
Star 4/5 (Sunrise Center)
D. Ion-Ebrasu, A. Spinu-Zaulet, S. Enache, M. Dragan (ICSI-Rm. Valcea), D. Schitea, L. G. Patularu (ICSI Rm. Valcea), C. Jianu (ICSI-Rm. Valcea), E. Carcadea (ICSI Rm. Valcea), M. Varlam (ICSI-Rm. Valcea), and K. Petrov (IEES, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences)
In Polymer Electrolyte Conducting OH- Cations Electrolysis (PEM.OH-) the significant overpotential occurs at the anode side where the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) takes place. Improving OER kinetics would indeed favor a widespread market penetration of (PEM.OH-) electrolysers. Since iridium is quite expensive and, as a typical secondary metal, resource limited, many research efforts have been directed towards the development of OER catalysts with a reduced amount of Ir or based on other transition metal oxides. The paper presents comparative study regarding Oxygen Evolution Reaction (OER) of the LaCoO3 catalysts in alkaline media. The material has been obtained by an original one step method. The effect of various parameters such as the catalyst and PTFE loading and fabrication technique on the electrode performance are described. The catalytic activity of the OER in 0.1 M KOH was determined from Tafel plots, obtained from galvanostatic current-voltage measurements as well as by the Rotating Disk Electrode (RDE) method. Long term tests have been conducted showing a good stability of the catalysts for the OER in 0.1 M KOH. The best electrode performance was used to prepare a home-made 10.89 cm2 cell that was tested in different KOH concentrations in domain of 0.1 to 0.5 M KOH and a commercially available anion exchange ionomer Fumasep FAS-30.