Electrochemical performance of a novel CoTETA/C catalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction

In this communication, we report a novel CoTETA/C catalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) which was prepared from a carbon-supported cobalt triethylenetetramine chelate, followed by heat treatment in an inert atmosphere. Electrochemical performances were measured using rotating disk electrode (RDE) technique and a PEM fuel cell test station. For a H-2-O-2 fuel cell system, the maximum output power density reached 162 MW cm(-2) at 25 degrees C with non-humidified reaction gases. We found a nanometallic face-centered cubic (fcc) alpha-Co phase embedded in the graphitic carbon after pyrolysis, based on X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements. These results indicated that CoTETA/C is a promising catalyst for the ORR. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.