Electrochemical characterization of temperature dependence of plasma-treated cobalt-oxide catalyst for oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline media

This work presents the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity of three different plasma-synthesized cobalt oxides supported on carbon (CoOx/C) in 0.1 M KOH and 0.1 M K2CO3 at 323 and 348 K. To evaluate the stability of the catalyst material, cyclic voltammograms (CVs) were recorded. To investigate the catalytic activity, a high-temperature rotating ring-disk electrode (RRDE) was used. Cobalt based catalyst materials seem to be a good alternative to costly platinum-based catalysts. This work shows the temperature dependent catalytic activity of plasma-treated cobalt acetate precursor material. This work showed that the increase of temperature to 323 K resulted in an increase in activity for ORR for the three catalyst materials, but a further temperature increase up to 348 K leads to a decrease in activity.