Electrothermal Annealing of Catalytic Platinum Microwire Electrodes: Towards Membrane-Free pH 7 Glucose Micro-Fuel Cells

Weber, James, Wain, Andrew J, Attard, Gary A and Marken, Frank (2017) Electrothermal Annealing of Catalytic Platinum Microwire Electrodes: Towards Membrane-Free pH 7 Glucose Micro-Fuel Cells. Electroanalysis, 29 (1). pp. 38-44.

Text Pt-ETA_2016_1fff.docx - Author Accepted Manuscript Download (1MB)

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Surface activation and cleaning of platinum micro‐wires of 25 micron diameter has been achieved by a short one‐second electrothermal annealing treatment in air at 0.3 A (to orange glow). Voltammetric data suggest a decrease in the electrochemically active surface area with annealing time and a change in surface structure towards the Pt(100) crystalline face. The impact of electrothermal annealing on the electrocatalytic activity towards (i) oxygen reduction and (ii) glucose oxidation in pH 7 phosphate buffered aqueous solutions is investigated. In contrast to as‐received platinum, annealed platinum produces an electrocatalytic response towards glucose oxidation with increasing glucose concentration. A short one‐second anneal step is just as effective in enhancing catalysis as prolonged electrochemical cleaning in sulphuric acid. Finally, by combining a non‐annealed and an annealed microwire electrode, a very simple membrane‐free micro‐fuel cell system is devised operating in phosphate buffer at pH 7 with linearly increasing power output reaching 2.2 nW cm<jats:sup>−2</jats:sup> for high glucose levels of 0.5 M.</jats:p>

Item Type:	Article
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	26 Mar 2018 06:31
Last Modified:	19 Sep 2023 01:24
DOI:	10.1002/elan.201600443
Related URLs:	Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3019393