Materials Research Bulletin 47 (2012) 135141

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Materials Research Bulletin

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Double perovskite oxides Sr2MMoO6 (M = Fe and Co) as cathode materials for

oxygen reduction in alkaline medium
Mabrouk Cheriti, Abdelkrim Kahoul *
Laboratoire dEnergetique et dElectrochimie des Solides, Universite F. Abbas de Setif, 19000 Setif, Algeria

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Article history: The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) was studied on Sr2MMoO6 (M = Fe and Co) double perovskites,
Received 27 May 2011 prepared by a solid-state reaction, in 0.5 M NaOH at 25 8C with a rotating disk electrode (RDE). The two
Received in revised form 25 August 2011 oxide powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and BET analysis.
Accepted 15 September 2011
The electrochemical techniques considered are linear voltammetry, steady state polarization and ac
Available online 22 September 2011
impedance spectroscopy. The electrocatalysts (SFMO/C, SCMO/C) consisting of the double perovskite
oxides and carbon (Vulcan XC-72) were mixed and spread out into a thin layer on a glassy carbon
Keywords:
substrate. At room temperature, a signicantly electrocatalytic activity is observed for both
A. Oxides
electrocatalysts. Compared to SFMO/C, the SCMO/C electrocatalyst was found to show a relatively
B. Chemical synthesis
C. Electrochemical measurements high electrocatalytic activity for O2 reduction, which agrees well with the results obtained using the ac
D. Electrochemical properties impedance spectroscopy.
2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction While the reduction occurs predominantly by the four electron

The molecular oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) has been
extensively studied due to its major importance in many elds,
such as energy conversion (alkaline fuel cells [1], metal air
batteries [2]. . .), hydrogen peroxide electrosynthesis [3] and
galvanic sensor for dissolved oxygen [4]. The rotating disk
electrode (RDE) is a useful tool for reaction electrocatalysis
studies. It allows one to study the activity of a material under
fast and well-dened mass transfer conditions [57]. Depending
on the nature of the electrode material and the electrolyte
composition, the ORR can proceed by a direct four-electron process
or by a two-electron pathway [8] giving rise, respectively, in
alkaline medium to the following reactions:
O2 2H2 O 4e ! 4OH E V vs: SHE 0:401
and
O2 H2 O 2e ! HO2  OH E V vs: SHE 0:065
Followed by either the further reduction reaction
HO2  H2 O 2e ! 3OH E V vs: SHE 0:867
Or the decomposition reaction
2HO2  ! 2OH O2
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +213 36 92 51 33; fax: +213 36 92 51 33.
E-mail address: Kahoulabdelkrim@yahoo.fr (A. Kahoul).
pathway on noble-metal electrocatalysts (e.g., Pt, platinum alloys,
silver, palladium), it proceeds principally through the peroxide
pathway on carbon, graphite, gold, mercury and most transition
metal oxides [8,9].
The electro-reduction of oxygen on perovskite-structured
oxides has attracted considerable attention since the work of
Meadowcroft [10]. Many searchers have examined O2 reduction on
perovskites [1115]. Among the tested perovskite-type oxides
ABO3 (A = La, Ca, or Sr, and B = Co, Fe, or Mn), the cobaltites (B = Co)
were found to be very active catalytically but unstable chemically
in a concentrated alkaline solution [16]. In contrast, the ferrites
(B = Fe) were very stable but hardly active [17]. Mixed with high
surface area carbons, the perovskites exhibit excellent cathodic
oxygen reduction properties in alkaline electrolytes. The activity of
these oxide electrocatalysts can be correlated with either their
highly active surfaces or the ability of the B cations to adopt
different valency states, particularly when they form redox couples
at the potential of oxygen reduction or evolution [18].
A subclass of perovskite oxides is presented by the general
formula A2BBO6, better known as double perovskites, where A is
an alkaline-earth atom such as (Sr, Ba or Ca), B and B are transition-
metal atoms. The ideal structure of these transition-metal oxides
can be viewed as a regular arrangement of corner-sharing BO6 and
BO6 otahedra, alternating along the directions of the crystal. This
specic arrangement of alterning different B and B cations can be
of great interest from the catalytic point of view since the
properties of perovskites as electrocatalysts are generally deter-
mined by the nature, oxidation states and relative arrangement of
B-sites cations [19]. Our recent investigation [20] has suggested

0025-5408/$ see front matter 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.materresbull.2011.09.016
136 M. Cheriti, A. Kahoul / Materials Research Bulletin 47 (2012) 135141

that SFMO double perovskite without carbon can possibly be a Electrochemical measurements were performed with an
good candidate for oxygen reduction. The activity of this cathode Autolab PGSTAT30. Impedance spectra were recorded in the 105
could even be highly promoted by increasing the dispersion (or to the 102 Hz range with an ac signal of 5 mV amplitude.
specic surface area) [21] of the double perovskite electrocatalysts.
Keeping this purpose in mind, this paper deals with an 3. Results and discussion
electrochemical comparative study towards oxygen reduction of
the two double perovskite oxides Sr2FeMoO6 (SFMO) and 3.1. Morphology and structure
Sr2CoMoO6 (SCMO) supported on carbon Vulcan XC-72. The
electrocatalytic activity of the two composite materials and the The grain morphology of the two oxides SFMO and SCMO as
mechanism for O2 reduction will be discussed. revealed by SEM are compared in Fig. 1. The SCMO oxide exhibits
relatively spherical and smaller grains with an average grain size of
about 2 mm diameter (Fig. 1a), while the SFMO sample has grains
2. Experimental that are much larger and connected to each other (Fig. 1b).
Apparently, the SBET value of SCMO sample (28 m2/g) is signi-
2.1. Chemicals cantly larger than that of the SFMO oxide (17.5 m2/g). Their pore
volumes of 0.06 and 0.04 g/cm3, respectively, suggest that the
The Sr2FeMoO6 and Sr2CoMoO6 samples were prepared by solid SFMO oxide structure is more compact than that of SCMO. In
state reaction with a high-purity SrCO3, Fe(C2O4)2H2O and MoO3
as starting materials. A two-step process was adopted in order to
avoid as much as possible the formation of SrMoO4 [22], a phase
observed when all three compounds react in a one-step reaction
[23]. First, SrCO3 and Fe(C2O4)2H2O were ground together and
sintered in air at 1000 8C. In the second step, the resulting powder
(Sr2FeO3,5) was mixed with MoO3, then heated at 1150 8C during
2 h under a N2(95%)/H2(5%) ow in order to reduce the excess
oxygen in the sample. In all cases, the temperature increase was
20 8C/min to limit the time period during which SrMoO4 can easily
form (between 600 and 900 8C).

2.2. Procedures

All electrochemical experiments were performed at (25  0.5 8C)

in a thermostated three-electrode cell in 0.5 M NaOH electrolyte
solution. The counter electrode used was a Pt plate with a large surface
area. A mercury/mercurous oxide electrode (HgHgO, 1 M KOH) was
used as the reference electrode. The substrate was a glassy carbon (GC)
rotating disk electrode (RDE) with 3.0 mm diameter. A graphitized
carbon (Vulcan XC-72, surface area of ca. 100 m2/g) supported the
double perovskites (SFMO/C and SCMO/C) used as electrocatalysts for
oxygen reduction.
Inks of the two dispersed oxides SFMO and SCMO were made by
mixing 3.4 mg oxide powder (30 wt%) and 8 mg carbon (Vulcan
XC-72) with 250 ml Naon1 solution (5% in mixture of lower
aliphatic alcohols and water, Aldrich) and 1250 ml ultra pure water
(18 MV cm) in an ultrasonic bath for 2 h. In order to immobilize
oxide/Vulcan, the GC disc was polished with alumina Al2O3 powder
(5 A). A 3 ml aliquot of the Naon-stabilised ink (suspension) was
deposited as a thin layer on its surface with a micropipette. Before
electrochemical measurements, the electrolyte was deaerated by
bubbling nitrogen gas for 20 min. The electrode was subjected to
20 cycles in the 0.2 to 0.9 V potential range to clean the surface.
Then, cathodic polarization curves were recorded in O2-saturated
0.5 M NaOH solution by scanning the electrode potential vs. Hg
HgO at 5 mV s1 and different rotating speeds (400, 900, 1225,
1600 and 2500 rpm).

2.3. Characterization techniques

The oxide morphology was examined in a JEOL (JSM840)

scanning electron microscope (SEM). Room temperature X-ray
diffraction (XRD) patterns were collected with a Siemens D 500
diffractometer operating with a Co Ka1 (l = 1.7889 A) radiation.
The specic surface area (SBET) of the samples was determined
by applying the multi-point BET method. The pore volume and
average pore diameter of the two oxides were obtained from the N2
desorption isotherm with the BET method. Fig. 1. SEM micrographs of (a) SFMO and (b) SCMO oxides.
 M. Cheriti, A. Kahoul / Materials Research Bulletin 47 (2012) 135141 137

112 Mo cations in the B-sublattice. Detailed inspection of the XRD data

200 reveals that additional weak peaks corresponding to a minor non-
conducting SrMoO4 impurity phase are also observed.
Sr2CoMoO6

3.2. Oxygen reduction on SFMO/C and SCMO/C electrocatalysts

220 204 224 3.2.1. Linear voltammetry

202
400 The currentpotential curves were obtained at ve electrode
101 * * 103 * * rotation speeds between 400 and 2500 rpm with a 5 mV s1 scan
rate in 0.5 M NaOH under pure oxygen. Fig. 3(a and b) shows typical
Intensity (arb. units)

RDE curves recorded for the oxygen reduction on thin layers of

112

200
Sr2FeMoO6
220
202
101 * 103
* pathway without producing signicant amounts of solution-phase
0 20 40
2 angle (deg.)
Fig. 2. X-ray diffraction patterns for Sr2FeMoO6 and Sr2CoMoO6 samples with Co Ka
radiation. The star indicates the weak reections of the SrMoO4 impurity phase.
accordance with the SCMO SBET surface area and pore volume
values, the smaller grains, which appear to be better separated,
show a powder with somewhat higher porosity.
The purity of the samples and their crystallographic structures
were investigated by XRD (Fig. 2). The X-ray diffraction analysis of
both SCMO and SFMO compounds indicates that all intense
diffraction lines can be identied according to a tetragonal lattice
structure, which agrees well with results reported in the literature
[24,25] for the two compounds. The presence of well-dened
superstructure reections (1 0 1) and (1 0 3) in the diffraction
patterns arises from the ordered arrangements between Co, Fe and
SFMO/C and SCMO/C electrocatalysts. The dashed curve i(E) obtained
under nitrogen ow shows zero current density and no activity of the
electrode is observed. In contrast, the ORR current density starts on
both electrocatalysts at about 0.15 V/HgHgO. The SFMO/C
electrocatalyst reaches a rst limiting current plateau at 0.28 V
and a second one at 0.7 V, indicating a reduction of O2 to HO2, then
204 a reduction of HO2 to OH, respectively. In the case of the SCMO/C
224
400 electrocatalyst, there is only one plateau which begins at 0.4 V/Hg
HgO, providing evidence that the O2 reduction occurs via a direct
peroxide, i.e., predominantly by 4e reduction to OH.
60 80 100 We believe that such a different behavior is related to the
change in the nature of the adsorbed oxygen species on the Fe and
Co cations and to the type of interactions for molecular oxygen on
the electrocatalyst surface of the transition metal oxides. Indeed,
on SFMO oxide, the oxygen molecule may interact with the
electrode in an end-on position, with the p orbital of O2 interacting
with the dz2 orbitals of Fe (Pauling model), whereas on SCMO
oxide, the interaction is achieved laterally between oxygen p
orbitals and the empty dz2 orbitals of the Co element (Grifths or
Bridge model) favoring the direct four-electron pathway [9]. It is
clear that the SCMO/C and SFMO/C electrodes exhibited a better
performance than the Vulcan carbon electrode alone (Fig. 4),
indicating that the oxides act as active materials promoting oxygen
reduction. It is worth mentioning that the larger currents for the
direct 4-electron pathway at low overpotentials (ca. > 0.45 V/
HgHgO) are obtained with the SCMO/C electrocatalyst, showing
its promising use as an oxygen cathode material.

2500 rpm under N2 flux 0

0, 0

400 rpm
-1 900 rpm
-1,5
i / mA.cm -2

i / mA.cm -2

1225 rpm
1600 rpm
400 rpm
2500 rpm
900 rpm
-3,0 1225 rpm -2
1600 rpm
2500 rpm

-4,5 -3

a b
-6,0 -4
-1,0 -0,8 -0,6 -0,4 -0,2 0, 0 -1,0 -0,8 -0,6 -0,4 -0,2 0, 0
E / V (Hg-HgO) E / V (Hg-HgO)
Fig. 3. Linear voltammetry curves for oxygen reduction on (a) SFMO/C and (b) SCMO/C electrocatalysts in O2-saturated 0.5 M NaOH solution at different rotation speeds. Disk
area: 0.07 cm2.
138 M. Cheriti, A. Kahoul / Materials Research Bulletin 47 (2012) 135141

The theoretical value of the Levich slope B is calculated from

Eq. (2)
0
B 0:62nFC O2 DO2 2=3 n1=6 ; (2)

900 rpm where n is the number of electrons transferred per oxygen molecule,
1225 rpm F is the faraday constant (96500 C mol1), C O2 is the concentration of
-1 1600 rpm oxygen in 0.5 M NaOH (0.843  106 mol cm2 s1), DO2 is the
2500 rpm diffusion coefcient of oxygen (1.43  105 cm2 s1) and n is the
cinematic viscosity of 0.5 M NaOH solution (9.784  103 cm2 s1)
i / mA.cm -2

[26].
The points of the KouteckyLevich plots are well-aligned; they
show a linear and parallel relationship at different potentials,
-2 indicating rst order kinetics for molecular oxygen reduction.
Straight lines marked with symbols represent experimental data,
whereas the two solid lines at the origin, n = 2e and n = 4e,
indicating the theoretical path for the ORR via two or four
electrons, are plotted from the B values calculated with literature
data given above.
-3 According to Strbac et al. [27], the comparison of plots in Fig. 3a
c) b) a) and b shows that the oxygen reduction occurs on the two
electrodes with exchange of four electrons in the activation control
-1,0 -0,8 -0,6 -0,4 -0,2 0,0 region. While the ORR occurs mainly through a 4e pathway on the
SCMO/C electrode (Fig. 5b), the plots i1 vs. v1/2 for the SFMO/C
E / V (Hg-HgO) display almost parallel lines to the theoretical one for n = 2e
Fig. 4. Polarization curves for O2 reduction on carbon Vulcan XC-72 in O2-saturated conrming that the oxygen reduction occurs mainly through a 2e
0.5 M NaOH, sweep rate: 5 mV s1 at different rotation speeds; (a) activation pathway (Fig. 5a), which suggests that the SFMO/C double
control region; (b) mixed control region; (c) diffusion control region. perovskite selectively inhibits the direct 4e process and favors
the peroxide pathway.
Fig. 6 shows two Tafel slopes for both catalysts. At low
The KouteckyLevich plots corresponding to the experimental overpotentials (ca. 217 to 223 mV/HgHgO), the slope values
curves of Fig. 3(a and b) are shown in Fig. 5(a and b), respectively, were 56 mV dec1 for SCMO/C and 53 mV dec1 for SFMO/C. At
by using the following relationship: high overpotentials (ca. < 225 mV/HgHgO), the slope values
were 115 and 197 mV dec1 for SCMO/C and SFMO/C electro-
1 1 1 catalysts, respectively. The transition in the Tafel slope value
(1)
i ik Bv1=2 appears to be related to a change in the nature of the adsorbed
oxygen species at different electrode potentials [28,29]. Similar
where i is the measured current density, ik the kinetic current Tafel-slope values in the rst potential region signify the same
density and v is the electrode rotation speed. four-electron pathway on both electrodes.

1,2
-0.30 V -0.28 V
1,2 -0.32 V -0.30 V
-0.35 V -0.32 V
-0.40 V
1,0
1,0 -0.35 V
-0.70 V
-0.75 V -0.40 V
-i-1 / mA -1.cm 2

-0.80 V 0,8 -0.50 V

-i-1 / mA -1.cm 2

0,8 -0.85 V
-0.90 V
0,6
0,6

0,4 0,4
-
n= 2e -
0,2 0,2 n =2e
- -
n =4e a n =4e b
0,0 0,0
0,00 0,03 0,06 0,09 0,12 0,15 0,00 0,03 0,06 0,09 0,12 0,15
-1/2 -1/2 1/2 -1/2 -1/2 1/2
/ rad S / rad S
Fig. 5. KouteckyLevich plots collected on (a) SFMO/C and (b) SCMO/C electrocatalysts under O2-saturated 0.5 M NaOH.
 M. Cheriti, A. Kahoul / Materials Research Bulletin 47 (2012) 135141 139

0,70
SFMO/C 0,0
- 0.197 V.dec-1
SCMO/C
0,35

0,00 - 0.115 V.dec-1 -0,7

region 2 GC substrate

i / mA.cm -2
Log (i) / mA.cm-2

-0,35 SFMO/C electrode

- 0.052 V.dec-1
SCMO/C electrode
-1,4
Pt
-0,70 - 0.056 V.dec-1
region 1
-1,05 -2,1

-1,40
-2,8
-1,75
-0,36 - 0,32 -0,28 - 0,24 -0,20 0,16
-
E / V(Hg-HgO) -0,60 -0,45 -0,30 -0,15 0,00
Fig. 6. Tafel plots of oxygen reduction on SCMO/C and SFMO/C electrocatalysts in E / V(Hg-HgO)
0.5 M NaOH, sweep rate: 5 mV s1, RDE at 2500 rpm.
Fig. 7. Steady state polarization curves of oxygen reduction on SFMO/C and SCMO/C
electrocatalysts in O2-saturated 0.5 M NaOH solution. GC substrate and Pt are
included for comparison.
According to reported Tafel behavior for oxygen reduction, a
similar transition occurring with Pt [30] and Ru [28] electrodes
from 60 and 80 mV dec1 to 200 and 180 mV dec1, respec- 3.2.3. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy
tively, is reasonably well-understood. Also values of 47 mV dec1 To characterize the ORR on the two electrocatalysts, measure-
and 63 mV dec1 at lower overpotentials were obtained on ments with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were
La1xSrxMnO3 perovskites [31] and Pb2Ru2O6,5 pyrochlore [32], carried out potentiostatically at 0.5 V/HgHgO on a RDE at
respectively. 2500 rpm. The corresponding Nyquist diagrams plotted in Fig. 8
The exchange current density i0, which is a measure of the show the same shape and are characterized by a large capacitive
catalytic activity, for the SCMO/C electrode is almost 30 times loop consisting of two overlapping capacitive loops. According to
higher than that of the SFMO/C one.

3.2.2. Steady state polarization

The electrocatalytic activity of SFMO/C and SCMO/C electro-
catalysts towards oxygen reduction was also investigated by
plotting currentpotential curves in the steady-state regime. The
open-circuit potentials for both electrodes ranged between 0 and
150 mV vs. HgHgO. The time taken for the current to reach a
steady state was found to vary with applied potential: it was 10
15 min at low overpotentials and 58 min at high overpotentials.
Fig. 7 displays polarization curves plotted for the two electro-
catalysts, Pt and carbon (Vulcan XC-72). The small currents observed
for the GC substrate indicate that it is a relatively inactive material.
Oxygen reaction over the surface of the electrocatalysts exhibiting
high currents shows that the SCMO/C electrocatalyst is slightly more
active than the SFMO/C one. The relatively high electrochemical
activity of the rst may be ascribed to its high specic surface area
providing a higher electrode current. The intrinsic electrochemical
activity of these double-perovskite oxides is somewhat complicated
and not yet fully understood, but several hypotheses with varying
interpretations have been suggested: (i) a relation between this
activity and the density of states at the Fermi level [33]; (ii) the
inuence of the metaloxygen binding energy and the p back
bonding from the oxygen to neighbouring cations [34]; the presence
of oxygen vacancies [35,36] and (iv) the importance of the electrical
conductivity [33]. It is important to point out that the two
electrocatalysts provide, at 0.5 V, current values ranging between
2 and 2.5 mA cm2, which are about 30 times larger than the value Fig. 8. Nyquist diagrams for O2 reduction on (a) SFMO/C and (b) SCMO/C
reported in our previous work [20] on the same Sr2FeMoO6 oxide electrocatalysts in O2-saturated 0.5 M NaOH solution at 0.5 V/HgHgO and
painted on a polyisobutylene foil. 2500 rpm.
140 M. Cheriti, A. Kahoul / Materials Research Bulletin 47 (2012) 135141

1,0 Table 1
900 rpm Kinetic parameters for the oxygen reduction reaction on SFMO/C and SCMO/C
electrocatalysts in O2-saturated 0.5 M NaOH.
1600 rpm
Electrocatalyst Rel Rdif i01(A cm2) i02 (A cm2)
2500 rpm
(V cm2) (KV cm2) (region 1) (region 2)
0,8
SCMO/C 1.501 0.89 1.33  106 1.13  104
SFMO/C 1.540 1.01 4.36  108 3.82  106

0,6 -2 resistance (Rel), a charge transfer resistance (Rct) leading to a

-Zi / k .cm

10 Hz
double-layer capacitance (Cdl) and a diffusion impedance (Zdif). The
parameters obtained by analyzing the data in Figs. 6 and 8 are
-1 summarized in Table 1.
10 Hz
0,4 The values of Rct and Cdl (not reported here) for both
electrocatalysts were obtained by extrapolation of the high
frequency loop. They have a low accuracy. Low values of Rct and
high values of Cdl could be explained by a three-dimensional
0,2 reaction zone of the porous electrodes. The high values of Rdif for
both electrodes show that the diffusion term signicantly
contributes to the oxygen reduction process. The lower value of
Rdif for the SCMO/C electrode, which is also a measure of the
0,0 activity, may explain its relatively high activity.

0,0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1,0 1,2 1,4 1,6

Z r / k .cm
Fig. 9. Nyquist diagrams for O2 reduction on SFMO/C in O2-saturated 0.5 M NaOH
solution. at 0.5 V/HgHgO and different rotation speeds.
Deslouis et al. [38] and Devos et al. [39], the rst loop observed in
the high frequency range is due to activation (charge transfer
process of oxygen) and the second, at low frequencies, is due to
convection (diffusion process of oxygen at the electrode/electro-
lyte interface). At high frequencies, the spectra start at an angle of
about 608 with respect to the real-axis in the complex plane. As the
plots for processes limited by charge transfer and by diffusion start
at an angle of 908 and 458 [37], respectively, this means that the
diffusion impedance predominates in our system. At low
frequencies, the diagrams roll over to form a semicircle, indicating
that diffusion is limited by a nite (Nernstian) diffusion layer with
a diffusion impedance Zdif. In the inset of Fig. 8, an electrolyte
resistance Rel of about 1.5 V cm2 was determined.
To conrm the O2 diffusion process, the Nyquist diagrams
plotted for the SFMO/C electrode (Fig. 9) show that, while the
impedance size of the rst masked loop, corresponding to the
charge transfer process, remains constant, the diffusion loop size
decreases markedly with increasing rotation speed v. Fig. 10
shows the proposed equivalent circuit that corresponds to the
electrode process described above and consists of an electrolyte
Cd1
4. Conclusion
This work was carried out for the purpose of comparing the
electrocatalytic activity for O2 reduction on SCMO/C and SFMO/C
electrocatalysts used as oxygen cathodes. The structural study for
SCMO and SFMO compounds prepared by solid state reaction
reveals a minor amount of SrMoO4 impurity and indicates that all
intense diffraction peaks can be indexed according to the double-
perovskite structures. The electrodes loaded with SCMO and SCMO
oxides (SCMO/C, SFMO/C) exhibit much better cathodic perfor-
mances than the unloaded (carbon) electrode. A change in the
reaction mechanism from a predominantly direct four-electron
pathway for O2 reduction on the SCMO/C electrocatalyst to a
peroxide pathway on the SFMO/C electrode was observed. The
steady state polarization curves show that the SCMO/C electro-
catalyst is more active than the SFMO/C one. This high electro-
activity may be attributed to its specic area. The study of the
electrocatalyst behavior towards oxygen reduction by means of ac
impedance spectroscopy stressed particularly the diffusional
character of the limiting step in the oxygen reduction. The lower
value of the diffusion impedance for SCMO/C catalyst is consistent
with its high electroactivity. Further investigations are under way
for elucidating the change in the mechanism for oxygen reduction
and improving the activity by optimizing the electrode loading.
Acknowledgments
We thank Professor Nicolas Alonso-Vante and his collaborators
from Catalyse en Chimie Oraganique laboratory, University of
Poitiers, for their guidance and useful discussions.

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