ABSTRACT:Electrooxidation of CO at the Pt(hkl)-electrolyte interface in two different room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) is probed to be surface sensitive. Provided data reveal a specific surface structure, (110) sites, which selectively activate CO oxidation in RTILs. This new knowledge is crucial for designing the next generation of Pt nanosized electrocatalysts for the CO oxidation reaction by increasing that type of site on the catalyst surface.A great deal of attention has been devoted to the use of room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) especially as substitutes for volatile organic solvents used in organic synthesis at industrial scale, 1 but also for the synthesis of inorganic and organometallic compounds.2 Air and moisture-stable RTILs have been regarded as environmentally friendly and alternative solvents thanks to its unique physicochemical features.3-4 For these reasons, RTILs particularly concentrate a great interest in the field of energy storage.5 Carbon monoxide is a common C1 building block in synthesis, extensively used for many different homogenous and heterogeneous catalyzed reactions, in both liquid and gas phase. One of the most relevant reactions conducted via gas phase heterogeneous catalysis is CO hydrogenation following Fischer-Tropsch reaction to form long-chain hydrocarbons. Among the liquid phase catalyzed reactions, electrochemical CO oxidation corresponds to one of the most technologically relevant reactions, 6 since adsorbed CO acts as a poisoning intermediate in many catalytic processes. For this reason, this reaction represents the rate determining step for the total electrochemical combustion of the liquid fuels used in direct fuel cells, such a direct formic acid (DFAFC), methanol (DMFC) or ethanol (DEFC) fuel cells.
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