High Electrocatalytic Performance of CuCoNi@CNTs Modified Glassy Carbon Electrode towards Methanol Oxidation in Alkaline Medium
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Measurements
2.2. Electrodes Modification
3. Results
4. Discussion
4.1. Materials and Electrochemical Characterization
- Firstly, the Ni(II)/Ni(III) transformation potential is negatively shifted by about 0.2 V in comparison to NiOx@CNTs/GCE (d), and this is attributed to the influence of a partial alloy or alloy structure, where the peaks of Ni(II)/Ni(III) and Co(II)/Co(III) of the formed alloy shifted negatively and positively, respectively [19].
- Secondly, the charging current of the Ni(II)/Ni(III) transformation increased dramatically compared to the case of NiOx@CNTs/GCE, and this may be due to the synergism between NiOx and the other two oxides present at the same time that resulted in more transformation of Ni(II) to Ni(III). This enhanced transformation can be explained in the view of the results recorded in the literature previously, which assumed that mixing NiOx with other oxides to form binary alloys, for example MnOx, CoOx, or CuOx, causes an noticeable increase in the Ni(II)/Ni(III) transformation reaction [24,28,30]. This can be represented by Equation (6).
- Thirdly, the charging current for both CuOx and CoOx, observed in the potential range 0.3 V to 0.55 V in curve b and c, decreased slightly in the same potential range in the case of CuCoNiOx@CNTs/GCE; this is certainly due to the last-mentioned feature in point II. Where, the high charging current in the mentioned potential range for both CuOx and CoOx is attributed to the conversion of Cu(II) and Co(III) to the higher oxidation states mentioned in Equations (3) and (4), and immediately the produced higher oxidation states are consumed in the Ni(II)/Ni(III) transformation according to Equation (6), so that no high charging current is observed.
4.2. Methanol Electrocatalytic Oxidation at the Modified Electrodes
4.3. Effect of Loading Level
4.4. Long-Term Stability of the Prepared Electrocatalysts
5. Conclusions
- (I)
- CuCoNiOx@CNT/GCE has shown the highest electrocatalytic activity and stability towards methanol electrooxidation in comparison to the mono catalysts. For example, a minimum 2.5 times enhancement in both stability and activity were found.
- (II)
- The electrocatalytic performance of CuCoNiOx@CNT/GCE depends greatly on the loading level (deposition time).
- (III)
- At a scan rate of more than 50 mV·s−1, the (Ip/ν1/2) did not change significantly with scan rate, which is a characteristic feature of catalytic reactions.
Acknowledgments
Author Contributions
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Hamza, A.A.; El-Refaei, S.M.; Elzatahry, A.A.; Abdullah, A.M. High Electrocatalytic Performance of CuCoNi@CNTs Modified Glassy Carbon Electrode towards Methanol Oxidation in Alkaline Medium. Appl. Sci. 2017, 7, 64. https://doi.org/10.3390/app7010064
Hamza AA, El-Refaei SM, Elzatahry AA, Abdullah AM. High Electrocatalytic Performance of CuCoNi@CNTs Modified Glassy Carbon Electrode towards Methanol Oxidation in Alkaline Medium. Applied Sciences. 2017; 7(1):64. https://doi.org/10.3390/app7010064
Chicago/Turabian StyleHamza, Amina A., Sayed M. El-Refaei, Ahmed A. Elzatahry, and Aboubakr M. Abdullah. 2017. "High Electrocatalytic Performance of CuCoNi@CNTs Modified Glassy Carbon Electrode towards Methanol Oxidation in Alkaline Medium" Applied Sciences 7, no. 1: 64. https://doi.org/10.3390/app7010064