The
oxygen reduction
reaction (ORR) at the cathode is one of the
critical bottlenecks in the energy conversion process in polymer electrolyte
fuel cells (PEFCs) and metal–air batteries. An iron azaphthalocyanine
unimolecular layer (Fe-AZUL) adsorbed onto a carbon substrate exhibited
high ORR activity as an alternative of Pt supported on carbon black
(Pt/C) electrocatalyst. We herein report the synthesis of various
AzPc molecules with different peripheral structures and complex metals,
as well as measurements of the ORR activities of catalysts containing
the synthesized molecules and carbons. The catalytic activities were
characterized by electrochemical analysis, density functional theory
(DFT) calculations, and measurements of ionization potential (IP)
values. From the results, the IP values on Ketjen Black (KB) were
found to be one of the significant indicators for high ORR activities,
providing a guideline for the development of high-performance electrocatalysts.
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