In order to develop highly efficient and stable catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) that do not contain precious metals, it is necessary to modify carbon nanotubes (CNT) and define the effect of the modification on their activity in the ORR. In this work, the modification of CNTs included functionalization by treatment in NaOH or HNO₃ (soft and hard conditions, respectively) and subsequent doping with nitrogen (melamine was used as a precursor). The main parameters that determine the efficiency of modified CNT in ORR are composition and surface area (XPS, BET), hydrophilic–hydrophobic surface properties (method of standard contact porosimetry (MSP)) and zeta potential (dynamic light scattering method). The activity of CNT in ORR was assessed following half-wave potential, current density within kinetic potential range and the electrochemically active surface area (S_EAS). The obtained results show that the modification of CNT with oxygen-containing groups leads to an increase in hydrophilicity and, consequently, S_EAS, as well as the total (overall) current. Subsequent doping with nitrogen ensures further increase in S_EAS, higher zeta potential and specific activity in ORR, reflected in the shift of the half-wave potential by 150 mV for CNT_NaOH-N and 110 mV for CNT_HNO3-N relative to CNT_NaOH and CNT_HNO3, respectively. Moreover, the introduction of N into the structure of CNT_HNO3 increases their corrosion stability.

The influence of the types and amounts of oxygen (O), nitrogen (N), and/or phosphorus (P) heteroatoms on the surface of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on stability and catalytic activity in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) was investigated in alkaline media. It is shown that functionalization of CNTs leads to growth of the electrochemically active surface and to an increase in activity in the ORR. At the same time, a decrease in stability is observed after functionalization of CNTs under accelerated corrosion testing in alkaline media. These results are most significant on CNTs after functionalization in HNO₃, due to the formation of a large number of structural defects. However, subsequent doping with N and/or P atoms provides a further activity increase and enhances the corrosion stability of CNTs. Thus, as shown by the studies of characteristic parameters (electrochemical active surface values (S_EAS); E_1/2; corrosion stability), CNTs doped with N and NP are promising catalytic systems that can be recommended for use as fuel cell cathodes. An important condition for effective doping is the synthesis of carboxyl and carbonyl oxygen-containing groups on the surface of CNTs.

It is shown that the mechanism of oxygen electroreduction on the PtCoCr/C systems in 0.5 M H₂SO₄ is similar to that proposed for the Pt/C catalyst. The activity of ternary catalysts is by two and more times higher than that of monoplatinum catalyst. The constant k ₁ is much larger than k ₂ (k ₁ and k ₂ are the rate constants of O₂ reduction to water and H₂O₂, respectively) for all catalysts studied. This indicates that the catalytic systems are selective with respect to O₂ reduction immediately to water in the practically important potential range from 1.0 to 0.6 V. The yield of H₂O₂ increases with a shift of potential in the cathodic direction (<0.7 V) and does not exceed 1%. The sum of rate constants of further conversion of hydrogen peroxide also increases with a shift of potential in the cathodic direction. After a corrosion attack (a treatment in the acid for 24 h), a ratio between the rate constants (k ₁/k ₂) for the PtCoCr/C catalysts increases. This is caused by a considerable increase in k ₁, which is 2.84 × 10⁻² cm/s for the catalyst containing 34 wt % Pt (against 1.5 × 10⁻² cm/s for the untreated catalyst). This can be explained by the reaction proceeding on the particle surface, which was enriched in platinum in the course of corrosion treatment. The properties of platinum clusters on the alloy surface differ from those of monoplatinum as a result of the ligand effect. The amount of oxygen chemisorbed from water on this surface is lower than on Pt/C catalyst. This is the main factor determining an increase in the activity and stability of ternary catalysts.