The oxidation of ethanol over Pt catalyst-electrodes deposited on ZrO2 (8 mol% Y2O3)

The reaction of ethanol oxidation has been examined over a Pt polycrystalline film deposited on an yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) electrochemical reactor. Experiments were carried out between 300 and 350 °C at atmospheric total pressure and under open and closed circuit conditions. It was found that the electrochemically induced change in the catalytic rate of ethanol consumption is four orders of magnitude higher than the rate of ion transport through the solid electrolyte. The galvanostatic transient behaviors of the consumption rates of ethanol and oxygen and of the formation rates of carbon dioxide and acetaldehyde have also been recorded. Finally, the increase in the rate of the electrochemical supply of oxygen ions through the solid electrolyte was found to induce an almost 700% increase on the yield of acetaldehyde. The results are interpreted on the basis of the theory of non-Faradaic electrochemical modification of catalytic activity (NEMCA).