Dioxygen reduction electrode material effects

The significant effects of media and electrode material on the reduction potentials and voltammetric peak currents for dissolved dioxygen require substantial knowledge of the media and appropriate calibration of the electrochem-... 

Sawyer DT, Chiericato G, Angelis CT, Nanni EJ, Tsuchiya T (1982) Effects of media and electrode materials on the electrochemical reduction of dioxygen. Anal Chem 54(11) 1720-1724... 

The proposition of a one-electron mechanism for the electron-transfer reduction of dioxygen and the associated conclusions present significant ramifications relative to the development of improved fuel cells and metal-air batteries. To date the practical forms of such systems have used strongly acidic or basic electrolytes. Such solution conditions normally cause atom transfer to be the dominant reduction process for molecular oxygen at metal electrodes. Hence, the search for effective catalytic materials should be in this context rather than in terms of a one-electron-transfer process. 

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