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Type: 
Journal
Description: 
This paper reports an investigation into the aging of pyrolyzed cobalt/polypyrrole (Co/PPy) oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalysts, based on quasi-in-situ photoelectron microspectroscopy. The catalyst precursor was prepared by potentiostatic reverse-pulse coelectrodeposition from an acetonitrile solution on graphite. Accelerated aging was obtained by quasi-in-situ voltammetric cycling in an acidic electrolyte. Using photoelectron imaging and microspectroscopy of single Co/PPy grains at a resolution of 100 nm, we tracked the ORR-induced changes in the morphology and chemical state of the pristine material, consisting of uniformly distributed ∼20 nm nanoparticles, initially consisting of a mixture of Co(II) and Co(III) oxidation states in almost equal amounts. The evolution of the Co 2p, O 1s, and N 1s spectra revealed that the main effects of aging are a gradual loss of the Co present at the surface and …
Publisher: 
American Chemical Society
Publication date: 
26 Nov 2014
Authors: 

Patrizia Bocchetta, Matteo Amati, Benedetto Bozzini, Massimo Catalano, Alessandra Gianoncelli, Luca Gregoratti, Antonietta Taurino, Maya Kiskinova

Biblio References: 
Volume: 6 Issue: 22 Pages: 19621-19629
Origin: 
ACS applied materials & interfaces