Study of Methanol Electro-Oxidation on Thin Nickel Films by Sampled Current Voltammetry

Nickel-based electrocatalysts have shown good catalytic activity for the electrochemical oxidation of alcohols in alkaline media, which has generated significant interest in using nickel films and nickel oxides in alcohol fuel cells. In this work, Ni films were deposited by the galvanostatic method on gold electrodes. The electrocatalytic activity for the electro-oxidation of methanol from these deposits was evaluated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and sampled current voltammetry (SCV). Cyclic voltammetry measurements showed that depending on the Au electrode roughness, the position NiOOH formation peak of the electrodeposited Ni deposits could differ. The deposits were divided depending on whether the NiOOH formation peak was below or above 0.39 V vs. Ag|AgCl reference electrode. Sampled current voltammograms showed that the former presented greater specificity for the oxidation of methanol, and the latter, showed electrocatalytic activity for both the oxidation of methanol and for the oxygen evolution reaction.