Mass transport and kinetics of electrochemical oxygen reduction at nanostructured platinum electrode and solid polymer electrolyte membrane interface

Oxygen reduction reaction (orr) at nanostructured Pt electrode in a flooded polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell environment has been investigated using a nanoporous Pt–Nafion membrane composite microelectrode by means of steady-state voltammetry and chronoamperometry. The interfacial mass transport of dissolved oxygen is characterized by comparable diffusion coefficients and lower concentrations as compared with literature data obtained with a humidified membrane. The exchange current densities measured at the nanoporous Pt and membrane interface are higher than those reported for the orr in acidic solutions or at polycrystalline Pt and Nafion membrane interface, indicating the improvement of the orr kinetics. Increasing temperature substantially improves the orr kinetics and accelerates the diffusion of oxygen, as expected by their Arrhenius behavior. At the nanoporous Pt and membrane interface, the Tafel plot exhibits an unusual slope of around 240?mV?dec^?1 at high overpotentials. This Tafel slope doubling the value of 120?mV?dec^?1 normally reported for the orr in acidic media and at the polycrystalline Pt and membrane interface is a signature of non-uniform polarization of the nanoporous Pt electrode on the membrane which origins have been discussed.     

Kinetics and mechanism of interaction between methanol and adsorbed oxygen on a smooth polycrystalline platinum electrode: Transients of the open-circuit potential

The method of transients of the open-circuit potential, combined with cathodic potentiodynamic pulses, is used for studying the methanol interaction with preliminarily adsorbed oxygen (O_ads) in 0.5 M H₂SO₄. It is established that, for the larger part of the time period required for a full reduction of a monolayer of O_ads in solutions of methanol on polycrystalline platinum, the process occurs at large coverages of the surface by O_ads (?_O). In the region of medium coverages, transients of the open-circuit potential are accurately described by the equation that corresponds to the mechanism of “conjugated reactions.” The mechanism of the methanol interaction with O_ads happens to be close to that for formic acid, which is explained by a dissociative character of these HCO compounds. Kinetic parameters characterizing the methanol reaction with O_ads in the region of large and medium coverages are determined and analyzed.     

O2 surface concentration change and its implication on oxygen reduction mechanism and kinetics at platinum in acidic media

O₂ concentration near Pt surface during oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in 0.1 M HClO₄ has been monitored by rotating ring-disk electrodes system. At 0.8 V < E < 1.0 V (vs. RHE), O₂ concentration near Pt surface increases with potential accompanying with the decrease of ORR current at the disk electrode; O₂ concentration in the negative-going scan is larger than that at the same potential in the positive-going scan, while ORR current shows the opposite trend at ω > 400 rpm. At E > 0.8 V accumulation of O_ad|OH_ad at Pt disk electrode with ORR time is evident, revealing that O_ad|OH_ad formation rate is faster than that for the removal of OH_ad to H₂O under such conditions. At relatively lower rotation speed and faster scan rate, the cathodic current during ORR in the negative-going scan can be larger than that in the positive-going scan with a current peak at ca. 0.8 V, which is attributed to the superimposition of ORR current increase due to change of O₂ concentration near the surface and the additional reduction of O_ad|OH_ad formed from decomposed O₂ at higher potentials.     

Electrochemical reduction of decafluorobenzil in DMF on a platinum electrode

The mechanism of electrochemical reduction of decafluorobenzil on a platinum electrode in DMF was investigated by cyclic voltammetry. The first reduction peak corresponded to a reversible single-electron transfer leading to the formation of a relatively stable anion-radical whose ESR spectrum was registered and characterized. The second peak corresponded to the reduction of the anion-radical into an unstable dianion that quickly reacted with initial decafluorobenzil, and the arising species (or its transformation product) at the given potential underwent further reduction. The effect of fluorine on the potentials and on the mechanism of the electrochemical reduction of decafluorobenzil was considered.     

Kinetics and mechanism of the electrochemical reduction of [1,2-bis(tert-butylperoxy)ethyl]benzene under conditions of the in situ recovery of a platinum surface

The behavior of [1,2-bis(tert-butylperoxy)ethyl]benzene (I) on Pt electrode is studied by means of cyclic voltammetry (CVA). A comparison of the electrochemical properties of I and the properties of previously studied bridge-type 1,2,4,5-tetraoxane ((1,4)-1,4-dimethyl-7-(4-methylbenzyl)-2,3,5,6-tetraoxabicyclo[2.2.1]heptane) (II) shows that the biperoxide studied in this work is reduced on a Pt electrode at lower cathodic potentials and is resistant to electrooxidation.     

Kinetics and mechanism of the deep electrochemical oxidation of sodium diclofenac on a boron-doped diamond electrode

The kinetics and mechanism of the deep oxidation of sodium diclofenac on a boron-doped diamond electrode are studied to develop a technique for purifying wastewater from pharmaceutical products. The products of sodium diclofenac electrolysis are analyzed using cyclic voltammetry and nuclear magnetic resonance techniques. It is shown that the toxicity of the drug and products of its electrolysis decreases upon its deep oxidation.     

Kinetics and mechanism of the formation and reduction of oxide layers on platinum part I. Oxidation and reduction of platinum electrodes

Oxidation and reduction of platinum electrodes have been investigated in the potential range up to 3.0 V in acid, alkaline and phosphate buffer solutions with pH from 0 to 14. It is shown that oxygen adsorption and absorption on platinum are usually superimposed, but they may be artificially separated using a strong dependence of the second process upon platinum pretreatment and potential sweep rate. The dependence of oxygen surface coverage on potential has several characteristic regions, each corresponding to the formation of a definite surface oxycompound.     

Oxygen reduction on the Au (311) electrode surface in alkaline electrolyte

Oxygen reduction was studied for the first time using a single crystal electrode in a rotating disc-ring arrangement. The Au (311) surface shows a complex behaviour, with a very high activity in certain potential regions. The first electron transfer is rate determining in the region of 4-electron reduction. As with Au (100), a 4 e⁻ reduction changes into a 2 e⁻ process, which reverts back to a 4 e⁻reaction at very negative potentials. Based on a general reaction scheme of O₂ reduction, a map of the operating potential dependent reaction pathways was constructed. Nearly 60% of the mass flux of O₂ undergoes a direct reduction to OH⁻ in the region of mixed control. The high activity of Au (311) was ascribed to a high step density and AuOH present on its surface.     

纳米铂电极的制备及其电化学行为

以镍铬合金为基体,采用电化学方法在其表面沉积制备了纳米Pt电极,用SEM对电极的形貌进行了表征,以亚铁氰化钾为分子探针考察了Pt电极的电化学性能。结果表明该电极对亚铁氰化钾具有稳定、灵敏的电化学响应,并对H2O2的电化学还原具有良好的催化活性。H2O2峰电流与其浓度在0.03-1.0 mmol/L范围内呈良好的线性关系,检出限（S/N=3）为7&#215;10^-6mol/L。相同实验条件下,该纳米Pt电极的催化活性远高于纯Pt电极。     

Electroreduction of dioxygen on Aunano-DNA film electrode in acidic electrolyte

The colloidal Au nanoparticles-deoxyribonucleic acid (Au(nano)-DNA) film modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) has been fabricated and the electrochemical reduction of dioxygen (O(2)) at this modified GCE has been studied in 0.2 mol/L air-saturated acetate buffer (pH=5.2) using cyclic voltammetry (CV), chronocoulometry (CC), linear scan voltammetry (LSV) and rotating disk electrode (RDE) as diagnostic techniques. The modified electrode shows excellent enhancement effect towards the reduction of dioxygen to hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)), and the overpotential is lower than that at bare GCE. A well-defined dioxygen reduction peak appeared at about -0.24 V. Based on experimental results, a reaction mechanism is proposed and discussed.     

Electrocatalytic activity of dispersed platinum and silver alloys and manganese oxides for the oxygen reduction in alkaline electrolyte

This work reviews the studies conducted in this laboratory of the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) on electrocatalysts formed by Pt-M/C (M = V, Cr, Co) and Ag-Pt/C alloys and on different Mn oxides (MnO/C, Mn₃O₄/C, MnO₂/C) in KOH electrolyte. The physical and electronic properties of the materials are investigated by in situ XAS (x-ray absorption spectroscopy) in the XANES (x-ray absorption near edge structure) region. The electrocatalytic activity for the ORR on the different catalysts is compared through mass-transport-corrected Tafel plots. The XANES results for the Pt-M/C and Ag-Pt/C composites at high electrode potentials show lower vacancy of the Pt 5d band compared to pure Pt/C, while for the results indicate a chance of the Mn oxidation state as a function of the electrode potential. The electrochemical measurements evidence increased electrocatalytic activity of the Pt alloys compared to pure Pt and this is attributed to a lowering of the adsorption strength of adsorbed oxygen species caused by the reduced Pt reactivity. An activity enhancement of the Ag atoms on the Ag-Pt/C alloys compared to pure Ag is ascribed to an electronic effect induced by the presence of Pt, increasing the Ag-O adsorption strength. In the case of the Mn_yO_x/C materials, the electrochemical results show low activity for MnO/C and higher activity for MnO₂/C and Mn₃O₄/C. This is explained based on the activation for the ORR, which is higher for the material with higher MnO₂ contents and the occurrence of a mediation processes involving the reduction of Mn(IV) to Mn(III), followed by the electron transfer of Mn(III) to oxygen. Published in Russian in Elektrokhimiya, 2006, Vol. 42, No. 12, pp. 1417–1426. Based on the report delivered at the 8th International Frumkin Symposium “Kinetics of the Electrode Processes,” October 18–22, 2005, Moscow. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Adsorption of polyethylene glycol on platinum electrode from acidic solutions

The effect of the molecular mass of polyethylene glycol (PEG) on its adsorption on platinized platinum from aqueous solutions of 0.5 M H₂SO₄ and 1 M HCl is studied using the methods of open-circuit potential shifts and voltammetry. In sulfuric acid solutions, the PEG adsorption is accompanied by dehydrogenation and hydrogenation processes, which probably involve the terminal groups of polymers. For PEG with the molecular mass of 600–40000, the established stationary surface states turn out to be close to one another. Anions Cl^? inhibit the PEG adsorption and electrooxidation. The adsorption behavior of PEG samples studied substantially differs from that of ethylene glycol under comparable conditions.     

Kinetics and mechanism of electrochemical oxygen reduction using Platinum/clay/Nafion catalyst layer for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

This work demonstrates the use of amino functionalized Mg-phyllosilicate clay/Nafion nanocomposite film embedded with Pt nanoparticles (Pt/AC/N) for catalyzing oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in sulphuric acid medium. Pt/AC/N nanocomposite films were surface characterized using transmission electron microscope. Cyclic and linear scan voltammetry studies were carried out under hydrodynamic conditions taking rotating-ring disc electrode (RRDE) as the working electrode. The effects of clay content, Pt mass loading, electrode rotation rate, and temperature on the ORR kinetics were studied. The Tafel slopes were found to vary between 118 and 126 mV dec⁻¹ indicating a good ORR kinetics. The exchange current density values calculated after mass transfer correction ranged from 5.8 × 10⁻⁷ to 2.4 × 10⁻⁶ A cm⁻². From the RRDE disc currents, Koutecky-Levich plots were constructed and the ORR mechanism was found to follow a four electron path with minimum H₂O₂ formation of ∼1.6%. The effect of temperature on ORR kinetics was found at 25, 40, and 50 °C. The energy of activation calculated to be 7.68 kJ mol⁻¹ and comparable to the standard Pt/C catalyzed ORR systems.     

Photoinduced surface dynamics of CO adsorbed on a platinum electrode

The surface dynamics of adsorbed CO molecules formed by dissociative adsorption of HCHO at a polycrystalline Pt electrode/electrolyte solution interface was studied by picosecond time-resolved sum-frequency generation (TR-SFG) spectroscopy. A SFG peak at 2050-2060 cm(-1) was observed at the Pt electrode in HClO(4) solution containing HCHO at 0-300 mV (vs Ag/AgCl), indicating the formation of adsorbed CO at an atop site of the Pt surface as a result of dissociative adsorption of HCHO. The peak position varied with potential by approximately 33 cm(-1)/V, as previously found in an infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (IRAS) study. Irradiation of an intense picosecond visible pulse (25 ps, 532 nm) caused an instant intensity decrease and broadening of the CO peak accompanied by the emergence of a new broad peak at approximately 1980 cm(-1) within the time resolution of the system. These results suggest a decrease and increase in the populations of CO adsorbed on atop and bridge sites, respectively, upon visible pump pulse irradiation.     

The effect of concentration in electrochemical oxidation of thiocyanate on platinum electrode

Electrochemical oxidation of thiocyanate (SCN⁻) on platinum electrode in the sulfuric acid medium was studied using cyclic voltammetry, in situ UV-visible absorption measurement, rotating ring-disc electrode voltammetry, and electrical impedance spectroscopy. Two oxidation processes are involved in the electrochemical oxidation of SCN⁻ in sulfuric acid medium. The adsorbed SCN⁻ undergoes oxidation at potential values higher than 0.900 V versus saturated calomel electrode (SCE). Trithiocyanate, , is formed as a relatively stable product during the first oxidation process. The potential range of formation increases with increase in concentration of SCN⁻, and it is exclusively produced in the potential range of 0.550 to 1.40 V versus SCE with 1.0 M NH₄SCN solution. The second oxidation process does not produce any stable product, and the products of second oxidation passivate the electrode surface.