Electrocatalysis in Direct Ethanol Fuel Cells

Abstract

The study and development of direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFC), and consequently, the ethanol electrooxidation reaction (EOR) is of paramount importance for clean energy production. In this sense, many publications have been dedicated to the use of Pt as a catalyst for this reaction, in which a large fraction of them seek to address the improvement of the Pt catalyst by its combination with a second metal. Consequently, herein, we summarize and discuss the most relevant EOR mechanistic from the last decades that shed light on a general mechanism for the EOR on Pt electrode. Additionally, different surface structure and chemical phenomena described for Pt‐based electrodes, such as strain, ligand effects, and bifunctional effects, are featured by citing and discussing the most relevant studies on Pt‐based bimetallic systems for the EOR.