Electrocatalysis: Fundamentals and Applications

“Apart from this fact, these synthetic carbon materials possess high purity, and, moreover, whereas carbon blacks are constituted of aggregates connected through van der Waals bonds, carbon gels display monolithic structures at the micrometer scale, and, as a consequence, the pore texture of a carbon gel micromonolith…”

“Ethanol has higher energy density compared with methanol [15, 16] and it is more attractive as fuel for DAFCs: it is safer and can be produced in great quantities from biomass.”

“Liu and Creager [20] have recently reported as well evidence of lower mass transfer resistance in Pt-loaded carbon xerogels vis-à-vis the same electrocatalyst prepared using carbon black Vulcan XC72 R as support.”

“In the case of the anode of direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs), the detailed mechanism of methanol oxidation has been elucidated during the last decades using a variety of experimental procedures, and several reviews can serve as a reference for the reader [1, 2].”

“reported that the faradic efficiencies for CO2 reduction products using Cu electrode in a methanol solution at low temperatures were better than those obtained without methanol at ambient temperature [29, 30].”

“effective electrode materials for the CO2 reduction process at atmospheric pressure and room temperature in aqueous solutions [11, 12, 16].”

“In this way, it is possible to obtain a wide variety of materials with different properties which can be used in a wide range of applications [18].”

“Apart from this fact, these synthetic carbon materials possess high purity, and, moreover, whereas carbon blacks are constituted of aggregates connected through van der Waals bonds, carbon gels display monolithic structures at the micrometer scale, and, as a consequence, the pore texture of a carbon gel micromonolith…”

“In a more recent work [5], the same group prepared multiwalled carbon nanotubes and high surface area mesoporous carbon xerogel and used them as supports for monometallic Pt and bimetallic PtRu catalysts.”

“CO2 reduction would be carried out making use of renewable energy to result in a net decrease of CO2 emissions [9, 10].”

“The diffractograms of PtLa/C electrocatalysts showed the peaks characteristic of fcc Pt and the presence of the contributions of La2O3 at 26◦, 29◦, 34◦, and 56◦ (JPDF 000–83– 1354) and those of La(OH)3 at 27◦, 31◦, and 43◦ (JPDF 000– 75–1900) [21, 22].”

“[26] observed an improvement in ethanol electrooxidation using nanocrystalline Pt/CeO2 composite electrodes.”

“Thus, in the last decade, an increasing number of publications report the synthesis and use of advanced carbon supports for fuel cell systems, such as carbon nanotubes [4, 5], carbon nanofibers [6, 7], ordered mesoporous carbons [8], and carbon xerogels and aerogels [4, 8–13], which can lead to more stable, highly act…”

“9 V versus RHE could be attributed to the oxidation of the active phase or even the support to form oxygen functional groups [35], but, in any case, it represents a reversible process since the second cycle corresponds to the voltammogram in the base electrolyte, which means that a complete oxidation of the CO monolay…”

“The specific activity increases as a function of particle size [36].”

“Thus, in the last decade, an increasing number of publications report the synthesis and use of advanced carbon supports for fuel cell systems, such as carbon nanotubes [4, 5], carbon nanofibers [6, 7], ordered mesoporous carbons [8], and carbon xerogels and aerogels [4, 8–13], which can lead to more stable, highly act…”

“Job and coworkers reported as well the strong influence that the pH of the solution in the synthesis of a carbon xerogel exerts on the final properties of these carbon materials [27].”

“CO2 reduction would be carried out making use of renewable energy to result in a net decrease of CO2 emissions [9, 10].”

“[23] claimed the opposite, comparing carbon aerogels and xerogels synthesized at pH values of 5.”

“reported that the faradic efficiencies for CO2 reduction products using Cu electrode in a methanol solution at low temperatures were better than those obtained without methanol at ambient temperature [29, 30].”

“Thus, in the last decade, an increasing number of publications report the synthesis and use of advanced carbon supports for fuel cell systems, such as carbon nanotubes [4, 5], carbon nanofibers [6, 7], ordered mesoporous carbons [8], and carbon xerogels and aerogels [4, 8–13], which can lead to more stable, highly act…”

“In this system, several chemical species are present such as La2O3 or La(OH)3 [8], which could be implied in the electrooxidation of alcohols like methanol or ethanol, for example.”

“Therefore, its catalytic activity toward the electrochemical CO2 reduction is expected to be interesting [33].”

“Lin and Ritter [25] previously reported similar observations.”

“effective electrode materials for the CO2 reduction process at atmospheric pressure and room temperature in aqueous solutions [11, 12, 16].”

“effective electrode materials for the CO2 reduction process at atmospheric pressure and room temperature in aqueous solutions [11, 12, 16].”

“that the capacitive behaviour is more apparent for the catalysts supported on the carbon xerogels than in the case of the one prepared using Vulcan XC-72 R or for Pt/E-TEK commercial catalysts, as previously reported in [31].”

“82 V versus RHE, as for Pt-E-TEK, as reported in the literature for commercial catalysts [34].”

“In the case of the anode of direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs), the detailed mechanism of methanol oxidation has been elucidated during the last decades using a variety of experimental procedures, and several reviews can serve as a reference for the reader [1, 2].”

“They work by changing the kinetics of the reaction or even by changing the mechanisms through which the reaction takes place [15,25].”

“, hydrogen fuel cell and batteries) to name just a few [1,2].”

“The image indicates that PEDOT is predominantly deposited as a thin film (Figure 2a), with the roughness probably due to the porous structure of the graphite (Figure S1), differently than other substrates, such as platinum or ITO where a globular morphology is found [3,4].”

“Activity towards the HER (achieved by proper control of the reaction mechanism and kinetics) and stability are essential requirements of these electrocatalysts [8].”

“271 Among the different electro-catalytic processes, electrochemical water splitting stands out as the most convenient method to generate green hydrogen to achieve carbon neutrality.”

“The primary variables that impact the characteristics of electrocatalyst atom rearrangements include the influence of surface roughness, identification of catalytic center sites, phase transitions, and on the catalytic surface that occur during electrochemical processes [62,63].”