title: Noble metal-free bifunctional oxygen evolution and oxygen reduction acidic media electro-catalysts.
abstract: Identification of low cost, highly active, durable completely noble metal-free electro-catalyst for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells, oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in PEM based water electrolysis and metal air batteries remains one of the major unfulfilled scientific and technological challenges of PEM based acid mediated electro-catalysts. In contrast, several non-noble metals based electro-catalysts have been identified for alkaline and neutral medium water electrolysis and fuel cells. Herein we report for the very first time, F doped Cu1.5Mn1.5O4, identified by exploiting theoretical first principles calculations for ORR and OER in PEM based systems. The identified novel noble metal-free electro-catalyst showed similar onset potential (1.43 V for OER and 1 V for ORR vs RHE) to that of IrO2 and Pt/C, respectively. The system also displayed excellent electrochemical activity comparable to IrO2 for OER and Pt/C for ORR, respectively, along with remarkable long term stability for 6000 cycles in acidic media validating theory, while also displaying superior methanol tolerance and yielding recommended power densities in full cell configurations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Swanson School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA.
authors.forename: Prasad Prakash
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, Swanson School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA.|Center for Complex Engineered Multifunctional Materials, University of Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA.
authors.forename: Moni Kanchan
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Datta
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, Swanson School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA.|Center for Complex Engineered Multifunctional Materials, University of Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA.
authors.forename: Oleg I
authors.initials: OI
authors.lastname: Velikokhatnyi
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, Swanson School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA.
authors.forename: Ramalinga
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kuruba
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA.
authors.forename: Krishnan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Damodaran
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, Swanson School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA.
authors.forename: Prashanth
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jampani
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Swanson School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA.
authors.forename: Bharat
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gattu
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Swanson School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA.
authors.forename: Pavithra Murugavel
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Shanthi
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Swanson School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA.
authors.forename: Sameer S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Damle
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Swanson School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA.|Department of Bioengineering, Swanson School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA.|Center for Complex Engineered Multifunctional Materials, University of Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA.|Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Swanson School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA.|School of Dental Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, PA 15217, USA.
authors.forename: Prashant N
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Kumta