Platinum is a precious metal that can serve as a catalyst in applications including direct methanol fuel cells. We have investigated the fundamental electrocatalytic activity of platinum with a self-assembled monolayer of amine-based ligands. We varied the functionalization time and chain length of the molecules to observe the resulting catalytic activity changes. Using cyclic voltammetry and infrared spectroscopy, we were able to analyze the quantitative catalytic properties according to the ordering and permeability of the molecular layer. We find that amines with longer chain lengths result in lower catalytic activity while all of the molecular layers displayed low ordering.

Electrochemical properties of amines on planar platinum surfaces

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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