3D-graphene for electrocatalysis of oxygen reduction reaction: Increasing number of layers increases the catalytic effect

Oxygen reaction reaction (ORR) is of enormous importance for energy storage and generation devices. Graphene offers catalytic properties towards ORR; however, its performance is often hindered by restacking of the graphene sheets. Here we show that mechanically rigid 3D graphene deposited on nickel template can act as efficient catalyst for ORR. We compare electrocatalytic activity of double, triple and few-layer 3D graphene. We show that the multilayer 3D graphene exhibits higher electrocatalytic activity than the other two samples towards ORR. These findings shall have a dramatic impact on the construction of graphene based fuel cells and batteries.

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