The role of surface oxides in formic acid oxidation on Au

Compared to Pt or Pd electrodes, Au is a poor catalyst for the direct anodic oxidation of HCOOH, but the formation of Au surface oxides in acidic solutions is accompanied by a fast oxidation of HCOOH. This fast reaction is not simply a secondary reaction of Au surface oxides since those oxides are kinetically stable in HCOOH solutions. They do oxidize HCOOH only via a slow and purely electrochemical process which occurs on free Au sites and is “driven” by oxide reduction. The fast HCOOH oxidation is due to a highly reactive intermediate which is able either to form stable Au oxides Au_nO_m or to react with HCOOH. Our results are consistent with the model that by the charge transfer step a reactive non-equilibrium {Au…O> species is formed which converts to stable equilibrium oxides Au_nO_m after migration and rearrangement steps. Pre-equilibrium oxidizes HCOOH and this oxidation is of lower order with respect to compared with the formation of Au_nO_m.