Manufacturing and Evaluation of Phthalocyanines as Catalysts for Fuel Cells.

Various phthalocyanines were synthesised and their abilities to catalise the electrochemical reduction of oxygen were compared. A reaction scheme of the catalysed oxygen reduction has been worked out. Reaction-kinetic measurements showed that the phthalocyanines were attacked by the hydrogen peroxide produced in the catalysed reaction. Investigation of the interactions of the phthalocyanines with carbon black substrates indicated that their catalytic properties are lost when free valencies of the central atom are saturated by phenolic surface groups of the carbon black.