A facile hard-templating synthesis of mesoporous spinel CoFe sub(2)O sub(4) nanostructures as promising electrocatalysts for the H sub(2)O sub(2) reduction reaction

Mesoporous spinel cobalt ferrite (CoFe sub(2)O sub(4)) nanostructures were synthesized viaa facile Al sub(2)O sub(3)-assisted hard-templating (HT) strategy. Their physicochemical properties were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectra (SEM-EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) and nitrogen sorption measurements. Their electrocatalytic performances towards H sub(2)O sub(2) reduction reaction (HRR) were investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV), chronoamperometry (CA) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) tests. The obtained CoFe sub(2)O sub(4) materials exhibit a superior mesoporous nanostructure with a particle size of around 20 nm, a specific surface area (SSA) of 140.6 m super(2) g super(-1) and a mesopore volume of 0.2410 cm super(3) g super(-1), which favor their desirable electrocatalytic activity. A current density of 123 mA cm super(-2) at -0.39 V (vs.Hg/HgO) in 3 M NaOH and 0.5 M H sub(2)O sub(2) electrolytes was delivered for HRR. Moreover, the CoFe sub(2)O sub(4) electrode exhibits a good stability for the catalytic reaction, showing the promising applications for H sub(2)O sub(2)-based alkaline fuel cells (AFCs).