Abstract
A MnO2/rGO composite with a novel yarn-rod shape was fabricated by a simple, economic and environmentally friendly electrodeposition method. The as-prepared MnO2/rGO composite was systematically characterized via X-ray Diffraction, X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, Raman Spectra, Scanning Electron Microscope, Transmission Electron Microscope, and Specific Surface Area measurement. The experimental results indicate that the MnO2 nanoparticles with rod-like morphology scatter over the yarn-shaped rGO sheet through the electrodeposition procedure. The current density of O2 reduction on the MnO2/rGO composite modified electrode is higher than those on MnO2 and rGO. The initial oxygen-reduction peak potential and half-wave potential of the MnO2/rGO composite are more positive than those of MnO2 and rGO. The MnO2/rGO composite, as a non-noble metal oxide catalyst, not only exhibits superior electrocatalytic activity for oxygen-reduction reaction (ORR) in an alkaline medium compared with MnO2 and rGO but also shows better ORR stability, higher electron transfer numbers, and stronger methanol-tolerant ability than the commercial Pt/C catalyst. These considerable results enable the development of a cheap and efficient non-noble metal electrocatalyst for ORR in fuel cells.
Graphic abstract
The MnO2/RGO composite prepared by the facile electrodeposition method shows the comparable electrocatalytic ORR performance with Pt/C
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Xiong W, Du F, Liu Y, Perez A Jr, Supp M, Ramakrishnan TS, Dai L, Jiang L (2010) 3-D carbon nanotube structures used as high performance catalyst for oxygen reduction reaction. J Am Chem Soc 132(45):15839–15841
Cheng F, Su Y, Liang J, Tao Z, Chen J (2009) MnO2-based nanostructures as catalysts for electrochemical oxygen reduction in alkaline media. Chem Mater 22(3):898–905
Cheng F, Zhang T, Zhang Y, Du J, Han X, Chen J (2013) Enhancing electrocatalytic oxygen reduction on MnO2 with vacancies. Angew Chem Int Ed 52(9):2474–2477
Lee J-S, Park GS, Lee HI, Kim ST, Cao R, Liu M, Cho J (2011) Ketjenblack carbon supported amorphous manganese oxides nanowires as highly efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline solutions. Nano Lett 11(12):5362–5366
Zeng Z, Zhang W, Liu Y, Lu P, Wei J (2017) Uniformly electrodeposited α-MnO2 film on super-aligned electrospun carbon nanofibers for a bifunctional catalyst design in oxygen reduction reaction. Electrochim Acta 256:232–240
Zhang J, Guo C, Zhang L, Li CM (2013) Direct growth of flower-like manganese oxide on reduced graphene oxide towards efficient oxygen reduction reaction. Chem Commun 49(56):6334–6336
Zuo L-X, Jiang L-P, Abdel-Halim E, Zhu J-J (2017) Sonochemical preparation of stable porous MnO2 and its application as an efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction. Ultrason Sonochem 35:219–225
Lan B, Zheng X, Cheng G, Han J, Li W, Sun M, Yu L (2018) The art of balance: engineering of structure defects and electrical conductivity of α-MnO2 for oxygen reduction reaction. Electrochim Acta 283:459–466
Li Y, Cao S, Fan L, Han J, Wang M, Guo R (2018) Hybrid shells of MnO2 nanosheets encapsulated by N-doped carbon towards nonprecious oxygen reduction reaction catalysts. J Colloid Interface Sci 527:241–250
Chae HK, Siberio-Perez DY, Kim J, Go Y, Eddaoudi M, Matzger AJ, O’keeffe M, Yaghi OM (2004) A route to high surface area, porosity and inclusion of large molecules in crystals. Nature 427(6974):523–527
Guo D, Dou S, Li X, Xu J, Wang S, Lai L, Liu HK, Ma J, Dou SX (2016) Hierarchical MnO2/rGO hybrid nanosheets as an efficient electrocatalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction. Int J Hydrogen Energy 41(10):5260–5268
Ezeigwe ER, Tan MT, Khiew PS, Siong CW (2015) Solvothermal synthesis of graphene–MnO2 nanocomposites and their electrochemical behavior. Ceram Int 41(9):11418–11427
Qian Y, Lu S, Gao F (2011) Synthesis of manganese dioxide/reduced graphene oxide composites with excellent electrocatalytic activity toward reduction of oxygen. Mater Lett 65(1):56–58
Vigil JA, Lambert TN, Eldred K (2015) Electrodeposited MnOx/PEDOT composite thin films for the oxygen reduction reaction. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 7(41):22745–22750
Lee K, Ahmed MS, Jeon S (2015) Electrochemical deposition of silver on manganese dioxide coated reduced graphene oxide for enhanced oxygen reduction reaction. J Power Sources 288:261–269
Zeng Q, Cheng J, Tang L, Liu X, Liu Y, Li J, Jiang J (2010) Self-assembled graphene-enzyme hierarchical nanostructures for electrochemical biosensing. Adv Funct Mater 20(19):3366–3372
Hummers WS Jr, Offeman RE (1958) Preparation of graphitic oxide. J Am Chem Soc 80(6):1339
Li L, Hu Z, Yang Y, Liang P, Lu A, Xu H, Hu Y, Wu H (2013) Hydrothermal self-assembly synthesis of Mn3O4/reduced graphene oxide hydrogel and its high electrochemical performance for supercapacitors. Chin J Chem 31(10):1290–1298
Li L, Seng KH, Liu H, Nevirkovets IP, Guo Z (2013) Synthesis of Mn3O4-anchored graphene sheet nanocomposites via a facile, fast microwave hydrothermal method and their supercapacitive behavior. Electrochim Acta 87:801–808
Zhao X, Zhang L, Murali S, Stoller MD, Zhang Q, Zhu Y, Ruoff RS (2012) Incorporation of manganese dioxide within ultraporous activated graphene for high-performance electrochemical capacitors. ACS Nano 6(6):5404–5412
Tuinstra F, Koenig JL (1970) Raman spectrum of graphite. J Chem Phys 53(3):1126–1130
Niilisk A, Kozlova J, Alles H, Aarik J, Sammelselg V (2016) Raman characterization of stacking in multi-layer graphene grown on Ni. Carbon 98:658–665
Chaunchaiyakul S, Yano T, Khoklang K, Krukowski P, Akai-Kasaya M, Saito A, Kuwahara Y (2016) Nanoscale analysis of multiwalled carbon nanotube by tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy. Carbon 99:642–648
Selvakumar K, Senthil Kumar SM, Thangamuthu R, Ganesan K, Murugan P, Rajput P, Jha SN, Bhattacharyya D (2015) Physiochemical investigation of shape-designed MnO2 nanostructures and their influence on oxygen reduction reaction activity in alkaline solution. J Phys Chem C 119(12):6604–6618
Feng Z-P, Li G-R, Zhong J-H, Wang Z-L, Ou Y-N, Tong Y-X (2009) MnO2 multilayer nanosheet clusters evolved from monolayer nanosheets and their predominant electrochemical properties. Electrochem Commun 11(3):706–710
Li H, Pang S, Wu S, Feng X, Müllen K, Bubeck C (2011) Layer-by-layer assembly and UV photoreduction of graphene–polyoxometalate composite films for electronics. J Am Chem Soc 133(24):9423–9429
Liu R, Li S, Yu X, Zhang G, Zhang S, Yao J, Zhi L (2012) A general green strategy for fabricating metal nanoparticles/polyoxometalate/graphene tri-component nanohybrids: enhanced electrocatalytic properties. J Mater Chem 22(8):3319–3322
Xu G, Jiang F, Ren Z-a, Yang L-w (2015) Polyhedral MnO nanocrystals anchored on reduced graphene oxide as an anode material with superior lithium storage capability. Ceram Int 41(9):10680–10688
Zhang X, Wang X, Le L, Ma A, Lin S (2015) Electrochemical growth of octahedral Fe3O4 with high activity and stability toward the oxygen reduction reaction. J Mater Chem A 3(38):19273–19276
Shi C, Zang G-L, Zhang Z, Sheng G-P, Huang Y-X, Zhao G-X, Wang X-K, Yu H-Q (2014) Synthesis of layered MnO2 nanosheets for enhanced oxygen reduction reaction catalytic activity. Electrochim Acta 132:239–243
Meng Y, Song W, Huang H, Ren Z, Chen S-Y, Suib SL (2014) Structure–property relationship of bifunctional MnO2 nanostructures: highly efficient, ultra-stable electrochemical water oxidation and oxygen reduction reaction catalysts identified in alkaline media. J Am Chem Soc 136(32):11452–11464
Zhu X, Zhang P, Xu S, Yan X, Xue Q (2014) Free-standing three-dimensional graphene/manganese oxide hybrids as binder-free electrode materials for energy storage applications. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 6(14):11665–11674
Acknowledgements
We acknowledge the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21571034).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Huang, B., Zhang, X., Cai, J. et al. A novel MnO2/rGO composite prepared by electrodeposition as a non-noble metal electrocatalyst for ORR. J Appl Electrochem 49, 767–777 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10800-019-01325-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10800-019-01325-y