Electrocatalytic oxidation of dimethyl ether on ruthenium modified platinum single crystal electrodes

Ruthenium were deposited on Pt(h k l) single crystal surfaces using repeated spontaneous deposition procedure. Pt(h k l)/Ru surfaces with different Ru coverage were first applied for the electrocatalytic oxidation of dimethyl ether (DME) to clarify the structure dependence of Ru modification. Cyclic voltammograms (CVs) show that the catalytic activity after Ru modification is promoted on Pt(1 0 0) while inhibited on Pt(1 1 0) and Pt(1 1 1) surfaces. Pt(1 0 0)/Ru surface yields a higher surface activity than clean Pt(1 0 0) within a potential range from 0.60 to 0.72 V, especially after one single spontaneous deposition. Pt(1 1 0)/Ru and Pt(1 1 1)/Ru have almost no activity for DME oxidation.