Electrochemical characterisation of gold on Pt{hkl} for ethanol electrocatalysis

Oxygen reactions on Pt{hkl} in a non-aqueous Na+ electrolyte: site selective stabilisation of a sodium peroxy species

The oxygen reduction and evolution reaction in the presence of sodium ions in an organic solvent is studied on well-defined Pt electrode surfaces.

Sodium–oxygen battery cathodes utilise the reversible redox species of oxygen in the presence of sodium ions. However, the oxygen reduction and evolution reaction mechanism is yet to be conclusively determined. In order to examine the part played by surface structure in sodium–oxygen electrochemistry for the development of catalytic materials and structures, a method of preparing clean, well-defined Pt electrode surfaces for adsorption studies in aprotic solvents is described. Using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and in situ electrochemical shell-isolated nanoparticle enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SHINERS), the various stages of oxygen reduction as a function of potential have been determined. It is found that on Pt{111} and Pt{110}-(1 × 1) terraces, a long lived surface sodium peroxide species is formed reversibly, whereas on Pt{100} and polycrystalline electrodes, this species is not detected.

The active site behaviour of electrochemically synthesised gold nanomaterials

Even though gold is the noblest of metals, a weak chemisorber and is regarded as being quite inert, it demonstrates significant electrocatalytic activity in its nanostructured form. It is demonstrated here that nanostructured and even evaporated thin films of gold are covered with active sites which are responsible for such activity. The identification of these sites is demonstrated with conventional electrochemical techniques such as cyclic voltammetry as well as a large amplitude Fourier transformed alternating current (FT-ac) method under acidic and alkaline conditions. The latter technique is beneficial in determining if an electrode process is either Faradaic or capacitive in nature. The observed behaviour is analogous to that observed for activated gold electrodes whose surfaces have been severely disrupted by cathodic polarisation in the hydrogen evolution region. It is shown that significant electrochemical oxidation responses occur at discrete potential values well below that for the formation of the compact monolayer oxide of bulk gold and are attributed to the facile oxidation of surface active sites. Several electrocatalytic reactions are explored in which the onset potential is determined by the presence of such sites on the surface. Significantly, the facile oxidation of active sites is used to drive the electroless deposition of metals such as platinum, palladium and silver from their aqueous salts on the surface of gold nanostructures. The resultant surface decoration of gold with secondary metal nanoparticles not only indicates regions on the surface which are rich in active sites but also provides a method to form interesting bimetallic surfaces.