The influencing role of oxophilicity and surface area of the catalyst for electrochemical methanol oxidation reaction: a case study

Samarjeet Siwala, Nishu Devia, Venkata Perlaa, Rasmita Barika, Sarit Ghosha & Kaushik Mallick*a a Department of Chemistry, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, South AfricaCONTACT Kaushik Mallick kaushikm@uj.ac.za Department of Chemistry, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park 2006, South AfricaABSTRACTThe zinc oxide modified carbon nitride was synthesized by applying a high temperature in-situ route and has been used as a support matrix for the palladium nanoparticles. The resultant material was analyzed by the optical and the surface characterization techniques, which offered the information about the interaction between carbon nitride and zinc oxide. For comparison, we have synthesized carbon nitride alone and also applied as a support material for palladium nanoparticles. Both the synthesized materials were successfully used as electrocatalyst for the methanol oxidation reaction under the alkaline media. The stability and the tolerance of the synthesized catalysts have been thoroughly studied and described in this report, in connection with the title reaction, on the basis of oxophilicity and the surface area.