title: Why is gold such a good catalyst for oxygen reduction in alkaline media?
abstract: The two faces of gold: the reduction of oxygen on gold electrodes in alkaline solutions has been investigated theoretically. The most favorable reaction leads directly to adsorbed O(2)(-), but the activation energy for a two-step pathway, in which the first step is an outer-sphere electron transfer to give solvated O(2)(-), is only slightly higher. d-band catalysis, which dominates oxygen reduction in acid media, plays no role. The reason why the reaction is slow in acid media is also explained.
authors.affiliation: PRELINE, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa Fé, Argentina.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Quaino
authors.forename: N B
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Luque
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nazmutdinov
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Schmickler