Formic acid oxidation on antimony-covered platinum films with a preferential (100) orientation

The spontaneous adsorption of Sb onto nanostructured platinum electrodeposited films with a preferential (100) surface orientation, hereafter denoted Pt100 pref, was studied by means of electrochemical quartz microbalance (EQCM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. EQCM results indicated the formation of a Sb monolayer, while XPS analyses confirmed that a fraction of the as-adsorbed Sb adatoms were in a metallic state, while the others were in an oxidized state. After cycling, all of the Sb adatoms were in a metallic state. The electrocatalytic performances towards formic acid oxidation were assessed through cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. On Pt100 pref, the presence of Sb markedly increased the current on the forward scan up to the potential value (typically 0.20 V) corresponding to a redox reaction occurring on the adatom. After one hour of electrolysis, the current on the Pt100 pref electrode covered with 75% Sb was ca. 15 mA cm−2geometric at 0.14 V vs SCE, which is 100 times higher than on the bare Pt100 pref electrode. The short- and long-term activities of the Pt100 pref electrode were maintained even when the electrode was disoriented through potential cycling in the Pt oxide formation and reduction region.