CHARACTERIZATION OF ALLOY ELECTROCATALYSTS FOR DIRECT OXIDATION OF METHANOL - NEW METHODS

The most active catalysts known for the direct electrochemical oxidation of methanol have a bimetallic or multimetallic composition, which are usually used in practice with the metals dispersed on an inert, electronically conductive support, One of the limitations to understanding the behavior of such catalysts has been the absence of methods for the systematic characterization of these complex materials, eg whether the metals are present in alloy phases, the particle size and surface area of the alloy phases, the surface composition, etc. The purpose of this paper is to review recent developments in characterization methodologies, both in situ and ex situ, and to show how these may be applied to multimetallic electrocatalysts.