Electrocatalytic Activities of Trirutiles Based on MTaO₆ (M=Co, Ni, Mg) for Oxygen Reduction Reaction

The trirutile oxides MTa2O6 (M=Co,Ni,Mg) [MTs] and the substitution products M1-xNxTa2-yLyO6 (N=Mn, L=Sn,Ti,Zr) [M1-xNxTa2-yLy] were prepared by a conventional solid-state reaction. The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activities were evaluated with the onset potentials (Eon) of the ORR currents, the disk current densities (iD) and the efficiencies (Eff4) of 4-electron reduction, measured by a rotating ring-disk electrode (RRDE) technique. All the samples showed ORR activities and the Eon values were around +0.8 V vs. RHE in 0.1 M KOH. The CoTa2O6 electrocatalyst showed the best ORR property of the MTs samples: its Eff4 value was as high as ~80%. With substitution of Ti or Sn, the ORR activities of MgTa1.9T0.1O6, CoTa1.8Sn0.2O6 and NiTa1.9Ti0.1O6 were improved in alkaline solution, compared with those of MTa2O6. In acid solution, the same substitution of Ti and Sn resulted in improvement of Eff4, but no significant improvements of Eon and iD.