SERS Study of Electro-oxidation of Formic Acid on Pt-Ru/GC

The electrooxidation behavior of formic acid on Pt-Ru/GC electrode was investigated by CV, chronoamperometry, and in-situ SERS. It was found that formic acid could dissociate spontaneously on Pt-Ru/GC electrode as it dissociated on rough Pt electrode, and produced strong absorption intermediates CO and reactive intermediaters -COO−. The results show that Ru could improve the electro-catalytic activity of formic acid on Pt-Ru/GC electrode. As the ratio of Pt and Ru in deposition solution changed from 10:1 to 1:1, the oxidation potential of CO shifted negatively to about 60 mV(from 0.41 V to 0.35 V). Compared to rough Pt electrode, the oxidation potential of CO on Pt-Ru(1:1) shifted negatively 200 mV. These results indicate that SERS is hopeful to be a comprehensive spectroscopy tool of investigating the electro-catalytic reaction mechanism.