Nanoparticulate Mn0.3Ce0.7O2: a novel electrocatalyst with improved power performance for metal/air batteries

Abstract

In this work, a novel electrocatalyst, Mn_0.3Ce_0.7O₂, with relatively high power performance has been, for the first time, proposed for metal/air batteries. The as-prepared samples are well characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), inductively coupled plasma (ICP) and nitrogen sorption experiments. Meanwhile, electrocatalytic activity towards the reduction of oxygen of Mn_0.3Ce_0.7O₂ is compared with those of the pure MnO₂ and CeO₂. It is observed that the Mn_0.3Ce_0.7O₂ solid solution is well formed after the calcination. Electrochemical results show that Mn_0.3Ce_0.7O₂ exhibits much higher electrocatalytic activity in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) than pure MnO₂ under high discharge current density, which is probably attributed to the effective activation of molecular oxygen over the Mn_0.3Ce_0.7O₂ solid solution and higher surface area.