CO oxidation on smooth and high area Pt, Pt-Ru and Pt-Sn electrodes

The electrochemical oxidation of COad was investigated on smooth and high area platinum, platinum—tin and platinum—ruthenium electrodes. On high area platinum, COad was classified into two types by their oxidation potentials: an easily oxidized one and one which is hard to oxidize. Pt-Ru was found to promote the oxidation of the latter, whereas Pt-Sn did the same for the former. The ternary system, Pt-Ru-Sn, showed even higher catalytic activity for COad oxidation than the binary systems.