Green Microwave-Assisted Synthesis of CoFeRu-Based Electrocatalyst for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Abstract

A simple and rapid synthesis of a CoFeRu-based electrocatalyst by a microwave-assisted method (using water as the microwave absorbing solvent) is reported in this work. Agglomerates with different sizes and shapes are observed by scanning electron microscopy technique. The energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy shows a low atomic percentage of Co and similar atomic percentage of Fe and Ru. However, the X-ray diffraction exhibits only the presence of metallic Ru and Fe2O3 (hematite) phases. The oxygen reduction without and with 2 mol L−1 methanol is studied using the rotating disk electrode technique. The electrochemical kinetic parameters obtained are compared to a similar electrocatalyst reported in the literature, which was synthesized using a mixture of an organic solvent with DI water as the microwave absorbing solvent. An improvement on the activity of the electrocatalyst synthesized is observed, where high Tafel slopes are not observed. The electrocatalyst also showed tolerance to the presence of methanol during the oxygen reduction reaction.