Indian Journal of Chemistry Vol. 14A, May 1976, pp, 315-318 Electrochemical Oxidation of Methanol, Formic Acid & Hydrazine at Pt-Ni, Pt-Au & Pt-Pd Electrodes C. B. ROY, S. C. DAS & H. R. KUNDU* Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur Received 23 April 1975; accepted 18 [uly 1975 Electrochemical oxidation of methanol, hydrazine and formic acid has been studied on a pure platinum electrode and platinum which has been co-deposited with Au, Pd or Ni from a platlniztng solution containing about 10% of latter metal. The polarization characteristics of the electrodes indicate that in their electro-oxidation process, the co-deposited Pt-Au, Pt-Pd, Pt-Nl act as better electrodes than platinum alone and the catalytic activity increases in the order Pt-c Pt-Ni-c Pt-Pd-c.Pt-Au. The rate determining step in these electrochemical oxidation using different electrodes is the chemtsorbed dissociative step which results in adsorbed hydro- gen which is subsequently oxidized through a fast step. It is seen that electrodes possessing higher values of heat of adsorption for hydrogen act as better electrocatalyst. ETHANOL, formic acid and hydrazine are supply connected in series to a variable resistance. important fuels because of their electro- The direct current source was connected to the M chemical reactivity. Several studies have auxiliary platinum electrode (cathode) and the been reported on the mechanism of anodic oxidation working electrode (anode) in a conventional H-type at platinum electrode of methanol-+, formic acid=? glass cell, anode and cathode compartments being and hydrazine". separated by fritted glass. In the galvanostatic A comparison of activity of noble metal alloys procedure followed, the steady state was assumed for anodic oxidation of methanol has been made such that the system varied negligibly with time by Breiter", and Dahms and Bockris'". They when measurement was taken. Under these condi- explained the difference in activities of the metal tions, it was possible to control the current externally by a difference in metal organic bond strengths and measure the resulting potential. The potential which may be related to the distinct difference of (mV) of the anode against SCE or Hg/HgO (IN heats of sublimation for the metals and the diffe- KOH) electrode was measured with the help of a rence in work function, the metal with the higher Cambridge pH-meter. A Luggin capillary was used work function exhibiting the faster reaction. to minimize IR drop. The current through the Frumkin» observed that an alloy made by simul- anode was varied stepwise, the corresponding pote~- taneous deposition of platinum and ruthenium from tial being determined. The four electrodes used m a mixture which contained 10% or less ruthenium the present study were prepared as follows: plati- was 100 times as active as pure platinum in oxida- nized Pt prepared from platinizing solution contain- tion of methanol. Grimes and Spengler= showed ing chloroplatinic acid in HCI (2N). The second that the use of mixed Pt-Pd electrode brought about one was prepared co-deposition of Pt and Au on a complete oxidation of methanol to carbonate. platinum foil from the solution of chloroplatinic McKee and Pak13 observed that Pt containing up to acid and auric chloride in HCl (2N). The solution 10·2% nickel acted as a better electrode than contains platinum and gold in the ratio of 10: 1 by platinum alone in anodic oxidation of H2 and CO wt of metals. The third and fourth electrodes were mixture containing up to 10% CO. According to prepared similarly by co-deposition of Pt/Ni and them, Pt-S% Cu, Pt-5% Sb are also better than PtjPd respectively. Nickel chloride or palladium platinum alone in the above reaction. chloride along with chloroplatinic acid in HCl (2N) The present investigation has been undertaken to were used in the preparation of the last two elec- study the activity of Pt mixed with Pd, Au or Ni trodes respectively. A current density of 15 majcm2 in electrochemical oxidation of methanol, formic for 25 min was used during electrodeposition for acid and hydrazine. all the electrodes. Basic solution of platinic chlo- ride (1%) with lead acetate (0·01%) in HCl (2N) Materials and Methods was used in all the cases. The electrochemical oxidation of methanol and The experimental scheme followed was similar to hydrazine was studied in KOH solution (IN) and that described by Wynveent! and Masaru and that of formic acid in H2S04 medium (0·5N). Hironosuke'". The galvanostatic circuit'" employed Estimation of Ni in the co-deposit was done polaro- consisted of high voltage stabilized D-C power graphlcally-? and the amount was found to be 0·479 4 2 *Present address: Central Instrumentation Service Sec- X 10- gjcm • All the chemicals used were of BDH tion, IIT, Kharagpur 2. AR grade. Triply distilled conductivity water was used. 315 INDIAN J. CHEM., VOL. 14A, MAY 1976 The anodic charging curves of the electrodes in Results and Discussion the presence of hydrogen were recorded following the procedure of Delahay and Berzins-" using Current-voltage curves at 30° for anodic oxidation Tektronix-547 oscilloscope. The glass cell was pro- of N2H4 (O·SM), and CH 0H (1M) both in KOH vided with a stopper through which 6 electrodes 3 (1M) at Pt-Au, Pt-Pd, Pt-Ni and platinized platinum were introduced and dipped into 2·5N H SO, 2 electrodes and that of formic acid (1M) in H S0 (AR H S0 ), The sulphuric acid solution was 2 4 2 4 (O·SN) are shown in Fig. 1. The results indicate preelectrolvsed with 15-50 ma current for 24 hr. that the activity of Pt in the oxidation of these Two electrodes were platinized platinum foil (1 cm2) fuels increased in the order: Pt-c.Pt-Ni-c.Pt-Pd-c.Pt- of which one was used as the reference electrode Au. It was found that higher temperature reduces and the other as counter electrode. The remaining the polarization in each case for all electrodes. four electrodes (exposed length 0·8 cm., diamete.r In acidic solution methanol could be oxidized at 0·05 cm) were platinized platinum electrode, Pt-NI, the platinum electrode to carbon dioxide and water, Pt-Au and Pt-Pd electrodes used as anodes. The and in alkaline solution the main oxidation product cell was also provided with an inlet and outlet for was reported to be formate ion", A mechanism of purified hydrogen gas. A constant current was electrochemical oxidation of methanol was proposed passed through the anode and the. counter elec~rode by Pavela- and later supported in a similar form by by means of a mercury switch. The mput Buck and Griffiths. The mechanism of oxidation attenuater of 'Y' amplifier was set at 0·5 Vfcm a?-d the time base switch at 5 msecjcm. The potential proposed for alkaline media may be written as: of the experimental electrode was ref~rred to that CHaOH+OH- ~ CH30-+H20 ... (1) of a platinized platinum electrode 111 the same Pt solution, which might be considered as hydrogen CH30- --+ CH20-(ad) + Had ..• (2) electrode. The oscilloscopic trace was photographed slow by means of Du Mont oscilloscopic camera type fast 2615. Had+OH- --+ H20+e- ...(~) .....•. -I'O~-----------------, :r -O~.~------------------------- -, -... A· o B % o " ~" -0'9 o..- .•.•%.. .•.. 2 x -0'8 '"> 2!. ~ ....I ....I ~ -0'7 ~ -0'2 u ~ z ...z ...~ ~ o o .•. e, -o~Lo -----i20 -40----~----~----~~--~IOO~60 80 o 20 40 60 80 100 ml (U'RRENT DENSITY(ma/Cm2) CURRENT DEN5ITy(ma/C ) c ••...•. ..; +0'5 ... v '" U> > ..:>....• +0'3 Fig. 1 -- Current-voltage curves for anodic oxida- ....I tion of (A)' N,H. (O'SM), (B) CH"OH (1M) and (C) ..• HCOOH (lj1f) at different electrodes A and B in ~ KOH (11\1/) and C in H2S04 (O'05N) at 30° [(1) Pt- z Au; (2) Pt-Pd ; (3) Pt-Ni ; and (4) platinized Pt] ~~Ol .i->:" _::l:::~o m ~ W W 00 CURRENT DENSITY (m a/cm2) 316 ROY et al.: OXIDATION OF METHANOL, FORMIC ACID & HYDRAZINE From the experimental observation of Langmuir and Au are 71·4 and 71·3 kcal/mole respectively. type adsorption and a Tafel slope of 2RTjF, the So it is expected that !1H ads will incr~ase by: the first electron transfer-? is indicated as the rate presence of any of these metals along with platinum determining step, where dissociative chemisorption during co-deposition. step is involved. The increase in activity of platinized platinum In the decomposition of formic acid, Schwab" electrode co-deposited with any of the three metals proposed a mechanism which consisted of adsorption Au, Ni and Pd is indicated from the reduced of molecular formic acid, decomposition to carbon polarization of the electrode, ~he .or~er bein~: dioxide and adsorbed hydrogen, and hydrogen Pt<Pc-Ni<Pt-Pd<Pt-Au. If dissociative chemi- desorption. Gottlieb? reported Tafel slope of 2RTjF sorption is the rate determining step, it is expected that the presence of Au, Pd or Ni in Pt will increase in oxidation of formic acid in H2S04 and proposed preliminary decomposition of formic acid and s.ub- the rate of oxidation of above species since !1Hads sequent oxidation of hydrogen. The mechamsm would increase bv the presence of these elements may be represented by Eqs. (4_7)6,20. with platinum. !1Hads values may be compared at zero coverage (free surface) with respect to the HCOOHso1n ~ HCOOHad ... (4) reacting species. r.d.s , Results of anodic charging curves of the different HCOOHad --7 HCOOad+Had . .. (5) electrodes are represented in oscilloscopic traces Had -7 H++e- ..