Studies of the Structure and Electrocatalytic Reduction of Oxygen on Modified Electrode Surfaces

199 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2005.Finally, the mechanism of the electroreduction of oxygen on Au surfaces in basic media is examined using SERS and density functional theory calculations. The spectroscopy reveals superoxide species as a reduction intermediate, while no peroxide is detected. The spectroscopy also shows the presence of superoxide after the addition of hydrogen peroxide. The calculations show no effect of OH addition to the Au(100) surface with regard to O-O length. These results suggest that the four-electron reduction of O2 on Au(100) in base arises from a disproportionation mechanism, which is enhanced on Au(100) relative to the other two low Miller index faces of Au.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD