Electrochemical promotion of toluene combustion on an inexpensive metallic catalyst

Electrochemical promotion of the complete catalytic oxidation of toluene at 310 °C is reported, using a Ag/YSZ/Ag two electrode system where Ag films were deposited on YSZ from AgNO3 aqueous solution followed by reduction in H2. After on-stream activation, a non-negligible conversion (about 30%) at OCV is reached and then the rate of the catalytic toluene conversion into CO2 and H2O can be multiplied by a factor higher than 1.5, by application of a small negative current (about—4 μA cm−2). The associated Faradaic efficiency is very high and may exceed −13,000.