Cation effects on the alkaline oxygen reduction reaction

In a recent issue of ACS Energy Letters, Resasco and his colleagues examine how different alkali metal cations impact the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) over a series of metal catalysts. They conclude that a metal catalyst exhibits cation-dependent ORR rates when its potential of zero total charge is positive of the ORR potential window. Such cation effects are rationalized by considering how the cations at the interface affect the rate-determining step.