title: Development of Cobalt Hydroxide as a Bifunctional Catalyst for Oxygen Electrocatalysis in Alkaline Solution.
abstract: Co(OH)2 in the form of hexagonal nanoplates synthesized by a simple hydrothermal reaction has shown even greater activity than cobalt oxides (CoO and Co3O4) in oxygen reduction and oxygen evolution reactions (ORR and OER) under alkaline conditions. The bifunctionality for oxygen electrocatalysis as shown by the OER-ORR potential difference (ΔE) could be reduced to as low as 0.87 V, comparable to the state-of-the-art non-noble bifunctional catalysts, when the Co(OH)2 nanoplates were compounded with nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide (N-rGO). The good performance was attributed to the nanosizing of Co(OH)2 and the synergistic interaction between Co(OH)2 and N-rGO. A zinc-air cell assembled with a Co(OH)2-air electrode also showed a performance comparable to that of the state-of-the-art zinc-air cells. The combination of bifunctional activity and operational stability establishes Co(OH)2 as an effective low-cost alternative to the platinum group metal catalysts.
authors.affiliation: †Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore, 10 Kent Ridge Crescent, Singapore 119260, Singapore.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhan
authors.affiliation: ‡Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, Agency of Science, Technology, and Research (A*STAR), 3 Research Link, Singapore 117602, Singapore.
authors.forename: Guojun
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: †Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore, 10 Kent Ridge Crescent, Singapore 119260, Singapore.
authors.forename: Shiliu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: †Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore, 10 Kent Ridge Crescent, Singapore 119260, Singapore.
authors.forename: Chaohe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: †Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore, 10 Kent Ridge Crescent, Singapore 119260, Singapore.
authors.forename: Meihua
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: ‡Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, Agency of Science, Technology, and Research (A*STAR), 3 Research Link, Singapore 117602, Singapore.
authors.forename: Zhaolin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: †Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore, 10 Kent Ridge Crescent, Singapore 119260, Singapore.
authors.forename: Jim Yang
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Lee
keywords: alkaline solution; bifunctional catalyst; cobalt hydroxide; oxygen electrocatalysis; zinc−air battery