TY - JOUR
T1 - Investigating the platinum electrode surface during Kolbe electrolysis of acetic acid
AU - Nordkamp, Margot Olde
AU - Ashraf, Talal
AU - Altomare, Marco
AU - Borca, Andrea Casanova
AU - Ghigna, Paolo
AU - Priamushko, Tatiana
AU - Cherevko, Serhiy
AU - Saveleva, Viktoriia A.
AU - Atzori, Cesare
AU - Minguzzi, Alessandro
AU - He, Xiufang
AU - Mul, Guido
AU - Mei, Bastian
PY - 2024/1
Y1 - 2024/1
N2 - Platinum is commonly applied as the anode material for Kolbe electrolysis of carboxylic acids thanks to its superior performance. Literature claims that the formation of a barrier layer on the Pt anode in carboxylic acid electrolyte suppresses the competing oxygen evolution and promotes anodic decarboxylation. In this work, we show by using a combination of complementary in situ and ex situ surface sensitive techniques, that the presence of acetate ions also prevents the formation of a passive oxide layer on the platinum surface at high anodic potentials even in aqueous electrolyte. Furthermore, Pt dissolves actively under these conditions, challenging the technical implementation of Kolbe electrolysis. Future studies exploring the activity-structure-stability relation of Pt are required to increase the economic viability of Kolbe electrolysis.
AB - Platinum is commonly applied as the anode material for Kolbe electrolysis of carboxylic acids thanks to its superior performance. Literature claims that the formation of a barrier layer on the Pt anode in carboxylic acid electrolyte suppresses the competing oxygen evolution and promotes anodic decarboxylation. In this work, we show by using a combination of complementary in situ and ex situ surface sensitive techniques, that the presence of acetate ions also prevents the formation of a passive oxide layer on the platinum surface at high anodic potentials even in aqueous electrolyte. Furthermore, Pt dissolves actively under these conditions, challenging the technical implementation of Kolbe electrolysis. Future studies exploring the activity-structure-stability relation of Pt are required to increase the economic viability of Kolbe electrolysis.
KW - UT-Hybrid-D
U2 - 10.1016/j.surfin.2023.103684
DO - 10.1016/j.surfin.2023.103684
M3 - Article
SN - 2468-0230
VL - 44
JO - Surfaces and Interfaces
JF - Surfaces and Interfaces
M1 - 103684
ER -