Acta Phys. -Chim. Sin. ›› 2016, Vol. 32 ›› Issue (6): 1467-1472.doi: 10.3866/PKU.WHXB201604144

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On-Line Electrochemical Transmission Infrared Spectroscopic Study of Pb2+ Enhanced C―C Bond Breaking in the Ethanol Oxidation Reaction

Zhao- min WAN,Xing WEI,Wei PENG,Zheng-Lei YIN,Li XIAO,Lin ZHUANG*()   

  • Received:2016-03-01 Published:2016-06-03
  • Contact: Lin ZHUANG E-mail:lzhuang@whu.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    The project was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(91545205)

Abstract:

Direct ethanol fuel cell (DEFC) has received much attention because of its high energy density,environmental friendliness, and low toxicity.Mechanism studies have focused on improving the breaking ratioof the C―C bond during the ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR).We establish an on- line electrochemicaltransmission infrared spectroscopic (ETIRS) method for electrochemical reactions.The new method is appliedto study the effect of the addition of Pb2+ on the EOR catalyzed by Pt in an alkaline solution.We perform a seriesof electrochemical experiments at different temperatures, different catalyst loadings, and different potentials.The addition of Pb2+ is shown to improve the reaction rate of EOR in each experiment.Additionally, the anodiccurrent becomes more stable with Pb2+ addition in the solutions.By using ETIRS, the products of the EOR aredetected.The results show that the current efficiency of the carbonate is obviously higher in the presence ofPb2+ than that without Pb2+.This indicates that Pb2+ may improve the breaking ratio of the C―C bond during theEOR, which results in an increase of the EOR current.

Key words: Ethanol electrooxidation, Alkaline medium, C―C bond breaking, Pb2+ additive, Transmission infrared spectroscopy