From HCOOH to CO at Pd Electrodes: A Surface-Enhanced Infrared Spectroscopy Study

The decomposition of HCOOH on Pd surfaces over a potential range of practical relevance to hydrogen production and fuel cell anode operation was probed by combining high-sensitivity in situ surface-enhanced IR spectroscopy with attenuated total reflection and thin-layer flow cell configurations. For the first time, concrete spectral evidence of COad formation has been obtained, and a new main pathway from HCOOH to COad involving the reduction of the dehydrogenation product of HCOOH (i.e., CO2) is proposed.