Development of Acid Stable Transtion Metal Oxide Electrocatalysts and Supports

Tranisition metal oxides (TMO) electrocatalysts are promising alternatives to noble metals and noble metal oxides for important reactions such as the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) of hydrogen fuel cells. However, the tendacy of TMOs to dissolve in acidic media has limited their utility. Our recent progress in preparing acid-stable powders and single crystals of electrically conductive titananium, niobium, and tantalum oxides with chemically relevant crystal structures will be discussed, as well as their preliminary electrochemical characterization.