Regensburg 2010 – scientific programme
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O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik
O 73: Solid/liquid interfaces II (focussed session)
O 73.1: Invited Talk
Thursday, March 25, 2010, 15:00–15:30, H33
Theoretical studies on the electrocatalytic Oxygen reduction reaction on Pt — •Timo Jacob — Universität Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 47, D-89069 Ulm
The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is one of the most important reactions in basic electrochemistry and for various applications such as fuel cells. However, due to the high complexity of this reaction the exact mechanisms is still unknown.
Using density functional theory, we investigated different mechanisms of the ORR on Pt electrodes [1]. Among the three main mechanisms (i.e., O2ad-Dissociation, OOHad-Formation, and HOOHad-Formation) we found that HOOHad-Formation is the preferred process in gas phase. When including water solvation as an environmental effect, the reaction paths were modified, leading to drastic changes in the energetics and a nearly identical preference for the O2ad-Dissociation and the OOHad-Formation mechanisms. Interestingly, inclusion of solvent as well as electrode potential effects resulted in a picture showing that both Langmuir–Hinshelwood and Eley–Rideal mechanisms could be at play, making the ORR a rather complex reaction, where rigorous evaluation of the kinetics of all paths coupled together under certain environmental parameters was required to further elucidate the complicated nature of the overall reaction process.
[1] S. Venkatachalam, T. Jacob, Handbook of Fuel Cells Vol. 5&6, W. Vielstich, H. A. Gasteiger, H. Yokokawa (Eds.), John Wiley & Sons Ltd., Chichester, UK (2009)