Effects of heat treatment on the structure, morphology and electrocatalytic activity of cobalt hydroxide electrocatalyst

in this study, effects of heat treatment on structure, morphology and electrocatalytic activity of polypyrrole-modified carbon-supported Co(OH)(2) (Co(OH)(2)-PPY-C) are investigated The Co(OH)(2)-PPY-C is heated under N-2 atmosphere at temperature ranging from 400 to 800 degrees C CoO will be formed when heating the precursor to 400 degrees C With elevating heat treatment temperature to 600 degrees C, metallic Co and Co3O4 are formed Spheroidal particles composed of CoO, Co3O4 and metallic Co will be formed when heating the Co(OH)(2)-PPY-C to 800 degrees C Itis found that the composite of CoO, Co3O4 and metallic Co with platelet shape is beneficial to oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) The electron transfer number of this catalyst towards ORR in alkaline medium is determined to be 4 (C) 2010 Professor T. Nejat Veziroglu Published by Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved