CO electro-oxidation reaction on Pt nanoparticles: Understanding peak multiplicity through thiol derivative molecule adsorption

Abstract

The electro-oxidation of CO adsorbed on Pt nanoparticles is an important reaction in fuel cells. Despite extensive research, the underlying concept for peak multiplicity is not yet clearly understood. We investigated CO electro-oxidation features by scan-rate-dependent Tafel analysis and a model system experiment based on adsorption of 3-mercaptopropionic acid (3-MPA). The results suggest that the first main oxidation peak corresponds to the competition between OH adsorption and the interaction between adsorbed CO and OH. Modifying the Pt surface with 3-MPA can reduce the OH coverage, which in turn reduces the width of the first peak. However, the peak potential is not significantly dependent on OH coverage. Considering that the free surface is large enough for OH adsorption on Pt at high potential, the second peak shows few features that depend on OH coverage; the second peak is mainly influenced by the Pt-CO interaction. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved