APPLICATION OF THE HYDROUS OXIDE MEDIATION MODEL OF ELECTROCATALYSIS TO REACTIONS AT NOBLE-METAL ANODES IN BASE .1. PT, PD AND RH

The oxidation of four compounds, hydrazine, the formate anion, formaldhyde and methanol, was investigated, using cyclic voltammetry techniques, at Pt, Pd and Rh anodes in base (the reactivity of three other metals, Au, Ir and Ru is described in Part II of this series). As for the same reactions in acid, whose behaviour was described recently, the results are discussed in terms of the adatom-incipient hydrous oxide mechanism of electrocatalysis. This approach operates quite well in the case of hydrazine oxidation, ie in the case of processes that occur without auto-deactivation of the surface. For most organics, however, more complex behaviour is observed as one of the main products of the oxidation process, COads, deactivates the anode surface. © 1990.