Electrocatalytic properties of multiwalled carbon nanotubes-based nanocomposites for oxygen electrodes

Metals (platinum, nickel, and lead) and oxides (manganese dioxide and molybdenum, chromium, cobalt, and niobium oxides) were deposited onto multiwalled carbon nanotubes by chemical and electrochemical methods. The resulting nanocomposites were tested as oxygen electrode materials for electrochemical power sources with alkaline electrolytes. A correlation was revealed between the catalytic activity of oxygen electrodes manufactured from composites based on carbon nanotubes with catalyst deposited, on the one hand, and the coefficient a in the Tafel equation for the oxygen evolution reaction on this catalyst, on the other. A possibility of predicting and evaluating the catalytic properties of oxygen electrode materials for power sources was suggested.