One-pot synthesis of Chromic oxide and Zinc oxide as a new for oxygen reduction reaction

Fuel cells are electrochemical energy instruments that convert chemical energy of a fuel and oxygen to electricity. The use of metal nanoparticles and their composites offers many attractive avenues for oxygen reduction reactions (ORR)[1]. Particularly, noble metals like platinum [2], palladium [3], and ruthenium [4] have been extensively reported for electrocatalytic applications [1]. However, their widespread applications are severely hindered by the element scarcity, expensiveness, and poor long-term stability[5]. therefore, it is imperative to develop highly active ORR electrocatalysts with earth-abundant and cost-effective components[5]. Among all reported candidates, non-precious metal oxides like, ZnO and Cr2O3 materials are always constructive owing to their chemically stable, less expensive and environment friendly benign. As a result of, to synthesis transition metal materials in a very simple reaction conditions and use for ORR alkaline media has been conducted. The catalyst has been synthesized and prepared using the sol-gel method.in this regards, X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) technique are used to investigate the crystallite size and the surface morphologies respectively. The electrochemical characteristics of the ZnO/Cr2O3 catalysts have been investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV), linner sweep voltammetry (LSV) and current-potential measurements, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in oxygen saturated 0.1 M KOH. Fig.1 shows the CV of the prepared catalyst and examined in presence and absence of N2 and O2 in alkaline media. The onset potential of the catalyst is calculated ( 0.73 V vs. RHE). Fig.2 shows the LSV curves at various rotation rates for ZnO/Cr2O3 catalysts. The TOEFL slope and the number of transferred electrons are calculated.