Design of Manganese‐Doped Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles as Effective Electrocatalytic System in Oxygen Reduction Reactions
Saadia Noor, Fawad Ahmad, Muhammad Imran Khan, Abdallah Shanableh, Shakir Ullah Khan, Suryyia Manzoor, Sameh M. Osman, Rafael Luque
Abstract
ABSTRACT Fuel cell technologies constitute a clean, reliable, highly efficient, and eco‐friendly source of alternative energy generation. However, they still require a reliable and robust catalytic system showing comparative electrochemical activity to precious metal Pt with less cost. In this work, Mn@ZnO NPs were synthesized using a hydrothermal‐assisted simple method. Several techniques including SEM, TGA, and XRD were used to confirm the material synthesis. Electrochemical properties were analyzed by using linear sweep voltammetry, chronoamperometry, and cyclic voltammetry. A higher ORR activity in terms of mass activity and current density was observed 133.9 mA/mg as compared to Pt/C (96 mA/mg) and Pd/C (67 mA/mg) under otherwise identical conditions. Mn@ZnO also exhibited excellent current density (1.913 mA cm −2 ), comparable to Pt/C (1.55 mA cm −2 ). Chronoamperometry shows stability for up to 800 s. Comparative studies were conducted in both acidic and basic mediums, with observed higher ORR activity in acidic media.