Electrochemistry of ethanol and dimethyl ether at a Pt electrode in a protic ionic liquid: the electrode poisoning mechanism

Abstract

A protic ionic liquid (PIL), N,N-diethyl-N-methyl ammonium trifluoromethane sulfonate, [dema][TfO] was synthesized and confirmed using ¹H-NMR and ion chromatography (IC). The surface electrocatalysis of ethanol (EtOH) and dimethyl ether (DME) was investigated on a polycrystalline Pt electrode in a PIL using a cyclic voltammetry technique. The voltammetry response shows that surface Pt-oxides/hydroxides (PtOH/PtO) are formed due to the oxidation of trace water (240 ppm determined by coulometric Karl–Fischer (FT) titration) in [dema][TfO] which plays a pivotal role during the electrocatalytic oxidation of EtOH and DME in the PIL. Oxidation of EtOH and DME coincides with coverage of the Pt surface by the adsorbed oxide species that helps to activate both processes by oxidizing the adsorbed poisoning CO and CO-like intermediate species via a ‘bifunctional’ reaction mechanism. The influence of temperature was investigated to obtain quantitative and qualitative information on the kinetics of EtOH oxidation. Higher activation energies are measured for EtOH oxidation in [dema][TfO] than in aqueous electrolytes due to the low water content and high viscosity of the PIL. This study gave a basic insight into the mechanism of EtOH and DME oxidation reactions, and the Pt-electrode poisoning species formation mechanism in the neoteric electrolyte medium is electrochemically investigated and reported.