Influence of silver on the glycerol electro-oxidation over AuAg/C catalysts in alkaline medium: a cyclic voltammetry and in situ FTIR spectroscopy study

In the present work, we investigated the influence of silver on the glycerol electro-oxidation over carbon-supported AuAg catalysts by cyclic voltammetry and in situ FTIR spectroscopy. We observed that the presence of Ag in the bimetallic materials provided a more efficient catalyst in terms of the ability to electro-oxidize glycerol at relatively low potentials. On the other hand, the bimetallic catalysts were found to be less promising than the Au/C catalyst with respect to the reaction rate. Ag addition influenced the mechanism of glycerol electro-oxidation, favoring the C-C-C bond breaking, as evidenced by the selective formation of formic acid on the bimetallic catalysts. The impact of Ag on the glycerol electro-oxidation over AuAg/C may be driven by electronic modifications and Ag segregation on the catalysts surface.