Pc. Biswas et al., ELECTROCATALYTIC ACTIVITIES OF GRAPHITE-SUPPORTED PLATINUM-ELECTRODESFOR METHANOL ELECTROOXIDATION, Journal of Applied Electrochemistry, 26(1), 1996, pp. 30-35
Electrooxidation of methanol in 1 M NaOH at 30 degrees C was studied o
n graphite-supported platinum electrodes prepared both in hydrogen and
in air at various temperatures. Heating in hydrogen always; produced
higher surface area of Pt, and hence greater mass activity, than in ai
r at a particular temperature. Nevertheless, both the graphite-support
ed platinum electrodes exhibited almost the same specific activity as
a smooth Pt electrode for methanol electrooxidation irrespective of th
e preparation conditions. This indicates that the difference in mass a
ctivity is due to different surface areas produced by the different pr
eparation methods. The Tafel slope of 1 10 mV decade(-1) on all the el
ectrodes studied indicated that the first charge transfer process was
the rate-determining step.