Ethanol and Methanol Oxidation Activity of PtPb, PtBi, and PtBi2 Intermetallic Compounds in Alkaline Media

Abstract

The electrocatalytic activities of a wide range of intermetallic bulk compounds in the ethanol (EtOH) and methanol (MeOH) oxidation reactions in alkaline media have been studied, and the results have been compared to those of pure polycrystalline Pt and Pd electrodes. The PtPb, PtBi, and PtBi 2 intermetallic compounds appeared to be the most promising electrocatalysts among all of the examined bulk electrodes. The current densities at −0.2 V (vs. Ag/AgCl KCl satd.) for PtPb, PtBi, and PtBi 2 in EtOH were 21.4, 7.73, and 6.03 mA cm −2 , respectively. All of the other intermetallic bulk electrodes exhibited current densities less than 2.5 mA cm −2. PtPb had the lowest onset potential of −0.58 V for EtOH oxidation, which was 20-30 mV less than that of pure Pt and Pd. The current densities of PtPb were at least seventeen times larger than those of pure Pt and Pd. PtBi and PtBi 2 , which have onset potentials of −0.51 and −0.45 V, respectively, for the EtOH oxidation reaction exhibited extremely stable oxidation currents of 4.8 and 3.3 mA cm −2 during the constant-potential electrolysis of EtOH. The same behavior was also observed for the MeOH oxidation with PtPb, PtBi, and PtBi 2 intermetallic compounds.

Recent Advances on Electro-Oxidation of Ethanol on Pt- and Pd-Based Catalysts: From Reaction Mechanisms to Catalytic Materials

“…Regardless of the media, Pt-based materials represent the benchmark catalysts for ethanol oxidation. Elements such as Ru [32,33,35,60,82,83], Sn [15,32,33,35,80,[84][85][86], Pb [21,[87][88][89][90][91], Bi [36,89,90,92,93], Re [86], Sb [93], Ir [94], Au [95], Ce [96], Rh [81,97], Pd [81,98,99], Fe [100], Ni [95,101], P [102], Mo [83,103] have been widely employed to enhance the activity and selectivity. In addition, metal oxides, such as MgO, CeO2, ZrO2, SnOx [76,94,104] RuO2, PbOx [88] have also been investigated for facilitating the removal of CO.…”

Effects of the Synthesis Method and Promoter Content on Bismuth‐Modified Platinum Catalysts in the Electro‐oxidation of Glycerol and Formic Acid

“…However, there are still lack researches on systematically analyzing the structure and performance of Bi‐modified Pt catalysts with different methods to uncover the common mechanism of structure‐activity. Various explanations have been offered for the Bi promotion effect on Pt catalyst based on the certain preparation method, including: (i) forming an alloy or intermetallic compounds;, (ii) blocking specific sites of Pt NPs for poison formation or adsorption;, (iii) forming complexes among the promoter Bi, Pt and reactant; (iv) the formation of new active sites, such as Bi−OH ads ; and (v) electronic effect ,. Even for the similar preparation methods for Bi‐promoted Pt catalysts, there are still some discrepancies in understanding the promoting role of Bi.…”

Cathodic Using of ZrB<sub>2</sub>-<i>α</i>SiC and TiB<sub>2</sub>-<i>α</i>SiC for PEM Electrolysis and Water Electrolysis at Low Temperature

“…We have the hydrogen storage, the efficiency of both electrodes, the tolerability of electrolyte toward electrodes and the efficiency of ion exchange membrane used. At the cathode of the cell, and because of their high activity for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), platinum/palladium black and carbon supported platinum or palladium nano-particles are most of the time used [5]- [7]. However, considering that the platinum remains the most expensive catalyst, doing without that precious material in the processes and replacing it by an active and cheap efficient electrode are a great desire to reduce the cost associated with the production of energy by electrochemical methods.…”