Abstract: Electrocatalytic oxidation of ethanol at the nano Ni-B amorphous alloy powder microelectrode and the electroless Ni-B amorphous alloy microdisk electrode in alkaline media was studied by using cyclic voltammetry. It was found that the nano Ni-B amorphous alloy microelectrode had higher electrocatalytic activity for the oxidation of ethanol than the electroless Ni-B amorphous alloy microdisk electrode. The kinetic parameters were determined with the steady polarization curves. The rates of electrocatalytic oxidation of ethanol at the nano Ni-B amorphous alloy microelectrode in alkaline media were much higher than those at the highly preferred orientation (220) nickel electrode. The proton diffusion coefficient of Ni(OH)2 at the nano Ni-B amorphous alloy powder microelectrode determined by cyclic voltammetry was increased by about 2 orders of magnitude, in comparison with the reported values at Ni nanowire electrode and the spherical Ni(OH)2 microencapsulated by cobalt.

Key words: Ni-B amorphous alloy, Nanoparticle, Ethanol, Electrocatalytic oxidation