The Electrocatalysis of Ethanol Oxidation

In this paper, the main characteristics of ethanol electrooxidation are presented and the results of electrochemical and spectroscopic methods are discussed. The total oxidation reaction should produce 12 e - /molecule. However, on Pt catalysts, the reaction follows parallel pathways forming acetaldehyde, acetic acid and carbon dioxide as soluble products. Thus much lower yields of charge per ethanol molecule are obtained. An increase of the CO2 production is observed at PtRu electrodeposits. Further research looking for more effective catalysts to produce the total oxidation is necessary.