Electrochemical promotion of the NO reduction by C2H4 on Pt/YSZ and by CO on Pd/YSZ

The effect of electrochemical promotion was investigated for the catalytic reduction of nitric oxide with ethylene and carbon monoxide on polycrystalline Pt and Pd, respectively, deposited on yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ). It was found in both cases that applying negative potentials and thus lowering the catalyst work function results in a pronounced increase in the catalytic rate and in the selectivity to nitrogen. A 7-fold increase was observed for the NO+C₂H₄ reaction on Pt while a 2-fold increase was obtained for the NO+CO reaction on Pd. The induced changes in catalytic rates were found to be 7 to 50 times higher than the rates of ion transfer from the catalyst surface. In both reactions, the observed electrophilic behavior can be attributed to the strengthening of the chemisorptive NO bond and concomitant enhanced dissociation of NO as the catalyst potential and work function is decreased. Forced periodic oscillations of the applied current was investigated and resulted in a enhanced production of CO₂, but an intermediate selectivity towards N₂, as compared to constant current application. The effect of the cycling waveform, frequency and amplitude was studied and provided evidence that the synergy observed during the cycling experiment results from a favorable transient coverage of adsorbed species on the catalyst surface as the catalyst potential oscillates from negative to positive values. Paper presented at the 3rd Euroconference on Solid State Ionics, Teulada, Sardinia, Italy, Sept. 15–22, 1996