Study of the oxygen reduction reaction on platinum with scanning electrochemical microscopy and rotating disk voltammetry

Abstract

The tip generation/substrate collection mode (TG/SC) of scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) was used to study the ORR reactivity on Pt catalysts in sulfuric acid solution. The SECM reactivity image and the photographic image of different single crystalline regions of the etched Pt electrode correlated well. The electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) image of Pt confirmed the surface single crystalline orientation. The image resolution is improved by employing smaller tip-substrate distance. The kinetics of the ORR on Pt surface was also studied at -15 - 30 C by means of the rotating disk voltammetry techniques. The calculated Tafel slopes for 0.1 m and 0.9 m HClO4 changed with decreasing temperature, indicating lower kinetics at low temperature. Peroxide is produced at potentials below 0 V vs SCE.