Electrocatalysis of the oxidation of CHO-compounds at zeolithe-modified electrodes

Ever-growing deleterious effects resulting from chemical reactions used for energy production on the polluted planet is the major concern to the mankind. There is a need for the development of environmentally friendly technology to counteract such effects. The use of the direct oxidation methanol fuel cell (DMFC) is a promising future energy technology alternative to conventional energy-generating devices, because of its high-energy conversion efficiency, low-to-zero pollutant emission, methanol availability, ease in distribution, and a high energy density ^[1].

It is generally accepted that Pt alone in not sufficient to oxidize methanol at a reasonable rate, mainly because of surface poisoning. However, platinum is required for the methanol adsorption and dehydrogenation process, which has limited research in this field to platinum-containing catalysts. Hence, many bimetallic Pt systems have been fabricated using various techniques ^[2-6].

It is well-known that Pt-Ru exhibits the highest catalytic activity among all binary catalysts studied so far towards methanol oxidation in acidic medium ^[7]. In addition to that, the influence of the Pt partical size plays a significant rule in controlling the reaction pathway. So, the dispersion of the metallic catalyst in a conducting sport greatly improves the oxidation process. On the other hand decreasing the amount of Pt loading is one of the top issues required to decrease the cost of fuel cell production. Standard procedures such as co-precipitation of platinum and ruthenium on carbon supports have not yielded satisfactory catalysts^[8]. Recently, noble metal modified zeolite/graphite electrode has shown a better activity towards ethanol oxidation^[9].

Project Description and the Methodology.