Oxygen electrocatalysis in chemical energy conversion and storage technologies

Oxygen electrocatalysis that we first defined is considered as the most important phenomenon in almost all electrochemical industries because it is the most sluggish reaction that governs the overall reaction rate in electrochemical cells. In this review, we cover two main areas of oxygen-water electrocatalysis, oxygen reduction to water and oxygen evolution from water. In particular, it aims to provide the readers with an understanding of the critical scientific challenges facing the development of oxygen electro-catalysts, various unique attributes of recent novel catalysts, the latest developments in electrode construction and the outlook for future generation of oxygen electrocatalysts. This review will be of value to both electrochemists and other applied scientists interested in this field of electrocatalysis. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.