Platinum modified gold catalysts have a great potential as catalyst for formic acid electrooxidation which occurs in the anode of formic acid fuel cells. The goal of this research is to study the catalytic activity of the atomic adlayers of platinum spontaneously deposited on gold from different haloplatinate solutions through the combination of electrochemistry and surface enhanced raman spectroscopy. Dramatic effect of the haloplatinate has been observed on the catalytic activities of Pt@Au surfaces. Generally, Pt@Au surface prepared from chloroplatinate is most active in oxidizing formic acid followed by that from bromoplatinate and iodoplatinate solution. Clearly, the use of different haloplatinate solution affects not only the amount of Pt deposited on the Au surface, but also the surface structure of those deposits. Interestingly, real time in situ SERS with potential control has revealed that formate appearing at lower wavenumbers of 300cm-1 is the possible intermediate in the catalytic processes on all three Pt@Au surfaces, but with different potential-dependent behaviors.

Effect of halide ions on the spontaneous deposition of Pt on Au surface for electrocatalytic oxidation of formic acid

246th National Meeting (2013)

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