Mechanisms of Carbon Monoxide and Methanol Oxidation at Single-crystal Electrodes

The electrochemical oxidation of carbon monoxide and methanol on single-crystal noble metal electrodes has been studied using cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry, in situ FTIR spectroscopy, online electrochemical mass spectrometry, and theoretical methods. The oxidation of CO was found to be enhanced by steps and defects. Furthermore, the surface diffusion rate was found to have a significant influence on the kinetics of the oxidation process: for high diffusion rates, such as the oxidation of CO on platinum, the kinetics can be described by a mean field model, while for low diffusion rates, such as CO oxidation on rhodium in sulfuric acid, a nucleation-and-growth model was found to be more suitable. Voltammetric and mass spectrometric measurements on the oxidation of methanol on platinum indicate that steps enhance the overall reaction rate. In general, the selectivity towards the direct oxidation pathway through soluble intermediates was found to be higher in the absence of strongly adsorbing anions. In both perchloric and sulfuric acid, this selectivity was also found to increase with increasing step density. In sulfuric acid, Pt(111) shows the highest relative contribution for the direct pathway of all surfaces studied in that electrolyte. Based on these results, a detailed reaction scheme for the electrochemical oxidation of methanol is presented.