Influence of the synthesis conditions of reduced graphene oxide on the electrochemical characteristics of the oxygen electrode

M.O. Danilov^1, , I.A. Slobodyanyuk¹, I.A. Rusetskii¹, G.I. Dovbeshko² and G.Ya. Kolbasov¹

¹Vernadskii Institute of General & Inorganic Chemistry of Nat. Acad. Sci., Kyiv, Ukraine

²Institute of Physics Nat. Acad. Sci., Kyiv, Ukraine

Cite this paper:
M.O. Danilov, I.A. Slobodyanyuk, I.A. Rusetskii, G.I. Dovbeshko and G.Ya. Kolbasov. Influence of the synthesis conditions of reduced graphene oxide on the electrochemical characteristics of the oxygen electrode. Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Research. 2014; 2(1):12-17. doi: 10.12691/nnr-2-1-3

Abstract

Reduced graphene oxide (RGO) was obtained by chemical synthesis from multi walled carbon nanotubes. Using a suitable oxidant, we longitudinally “unzipped” nanotubes to form graphene oxide nanoribbons and then obtained RGO with a proper reductant. Standard redox potentials of carboxy groups were used for choosing oxidant and reductant. It has been shown that the required oxidant potential in acid medium should be more + 0.528 V and reductant potential in alkaline medium- less – 1.148 V. Current-potential curves for oxygen electrodes based on RGO, obtained by using the oxidants K₂Cr₂O₇, KMnO₄ and the reductants NaH₂PO₂, Na₂SO₃, were analyzed. The electrochemical characteristics of RGO in the oxygen reduction reaction were depended on the redox power of the reagents. We demonstrated that obtained RGO could be promising material for oxygen electrodes of fuel cells.

Keywords:
reduced graphene oxide (RGO) synthesis electrode materials fuel cells oxygen electrodes

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