Electrochemical Characterization and Quantified Surface Termination Obtained by Low Energy Ion Scattering and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy of Orthorhombic and Rhombohedral LaMnO3 Powders

LaMnO3 powder synthesized by glycine combustion synthesis with the rhombohedral and orthorhombic structures has been characterized by the combination of low energy ion scattering (LEIS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), while the electrocatalytic activity for the oxygen reduction reaction is measured with the rotating disk electrode (RDE) method. Quantification of the surface terminations obtained by LEIS suggests that the orthorhombic LaMnO3 crystallites are near thermodynamic equilibrium as surface atomic ratios compare well with those of equilibrium morphologies computed by a Wulff construction based on computed surface energies. Both rhombohedral and orthorhombic structures present the same La/Mn atomic ratio on the surface. Electrochemical activity of the two structures is found to be the same within the error bar of our measurements. This result is in disagreement with results previously reported on the activity of the two structures obtained by the coprecipitation method [Suntivich et al. Nat. Chem. 2011, 3 (7), 546], and it indicates that the preparation method and the resulting surface termination might play a crucial role for the activity of perovskite catalysts.