Formic acid oxidation on Pd-modified Pt(100) and Pt(111) electrodes:: A DEMS study

Formic acid oxidation on palladium submonolayers on well-defined Pt(100) and Pt(111) electrodes has been studied using voltammetry and Differential Electrochemical Mass Spectrometry (DEMS). A combination of the two techniques allows a better understanding of the reaction taking place on the electrode surface. Thus, an exact correlation between the CO2 mass signal and the current density in the voltammogram corresponding to the formic acid oxidation has been obtained. On palladium modified Pt(100) electrodes and in the potential region below 0.3 V, the currents in the positive scan are higher than those recorded in the negative scan. This diminution on the signal in the negative scan has been associated with CO2 reduction to CO on the palladium adlayer. In addition, the CO2 reduction reaction seems to take place on the border of the palladium islands. Finally, the adsorption of (bi)sulfate anions has an inhibiting behavior on the formic acid oxidation reaction.