Promotion of Glycerol Oxidation by Selective Ru Decoration of (100) Domains at Nanostructured Pt Electrodes

Glycerol (GlOH) electrooxidation is a potential route to GlOH valorisation. In this work, we show that GlOH oxidation can be enhanced at bimetallic Pt-Ru electrodes with respect to bare Pt in sulphuric acid. We electrodeposited high-surface area Pt electrodes comprising of 40% (100) sites, along with a smaller amount of (111) domains. Spontaneous Ru deposition was carried out by immersion in a RuCl3 solution for a varying amount of time. Voltammetric methods demonstrated that (100) sites are decorated most readily. Pt-Ru electrodes display an earlier onset potential for COads oxidation, which translates into an anticipation of the main GlOH oxidation wave. Under prolonged Ru deposition, Ru decoration also proceeds close to (111) Pt domains, as highlighted by CO stripping. We suggest that such ensembles may play a critical role in achieving optimal GlOH activity at Pt-Ru.