Facile synthesis of morphology-controlled Co3O4 nanostructures through solvothermal method with enhanced catalytic activity for H2O2 electroreduction

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) replaced oxygen (O-2) as oxidant has been widely investigated due to its faster reduction kinetics, easier storage and handling than gaseous oxygen. The main challenge of using H2O2 as oxidant is the chemical decomposition. In this article, by using different C2H5OH/H2O volume ratio as the solvent, Co3O4 with different morphologies (nanosheet, nanowire, ultrafine nanowire net, nanobelts, and honeycomb-like) direct growth on Ni foam are synthesized via a simple solvothermal method for the first time. Results show that the introduction of ethanol could obviously improve the catalytic performance toward H2O2 electroreduction. The sample prepared in the solution with the C2H5OH/H2O volume ratio of 1:2 shows the best catalytic performance among the five samples and a current density of 0.214 A cm(-2) is observed in 3.0 mol L-1 KOH + 0.5 mol L-1 H2O2 at -0.4 V (vs. Ag/AgCl KCl), which is much larger than that on the other metal oxides reported previously, almost comparable with the precious metals. This electrode of Co3O4 directly grown on Ni foam has superior mass transport property, which combining with its low-cost and facile preparation, make it a promising electrode for fuel cell using H2O2 as the oxidant. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.