Enhanced electrochemical oxidation of methanol on copper electrodes modified by electrocorrosion and electrodeposition

• We presented simple treatments to increase the response of copper electrodes.
• Copper electrodes were modified by electrocorrosion and electrodeposition.
• Scanning Electron Microscopy images reveal the effects of the different treatments.
• The response is enhanced by an area increase and/or intermediates concentration.
• For each treatment the concentration range of the diffusion control is analyzed.

In this paper, we report a study of electrocatalytic oxidation of methanol on copper electrodes subjected to different surface treatments, either electrocorrosion or electrodeposition in the absence of strong hydrogen co-deposition. The surface morphology of treated electrodes was examined by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM). The effect of different treatment conditions and the methanol concentration dependence were evaluated by cyclic voltammetric technique. The results indicate that the oxidation of methanol can be enhanced by a suitable micro and nano structure generated by these treatments. This enhanced electrode activity is related to an increase of the effective surface area and/or to an increase of the surface concentration of electroactive molecules or intermediates.