Journal of Applied Electrochemistry, Vol.40, No.10, 1859-1865, 2010
The role of TiO2 layers deposited on YSZ on the electrochemical promotion of C2H4 oxidation on Pt
The electrochemical promotion of Pt/YSZ and Pt/TiO2/YSZ catalyst-electrodes has been investigated for the model reaction of C2H4 oxidation in an atmospheric pressure single chamber reactor, under oxygen excess between 280 and 375 A degrees C. It has been found that the presence of a dispersed TiO2 thin layer between the catalyst electrode and the solid electrolyte (YSZ), results in a significant increase of the magnitude of the electrochemical promotion of catalysis (EPOC) effect. The rate enhancement ratio upon current application and the faradaic efficiency values, were found to be a factor of 2.5 and 4 respectively, higher than those in absence of TiO2. This significantly enhanced EPOC effect via the addition of TiO2 suggests that the presence of the porous TiO2 layer enhances the transport of promoting O2- species onto the Pt catalyst surface. This enhancement may be partly due to morphological factors, such as increased Pt dispersion and three-phase-boundary length in presence of the TiO2 porous layer, but appears to be mainly caused by the mixed ionic-electronic conductivity of the TiO2 layer which results to enhanced O2- transport to the Pt surface via a self-driven electrochemical promotion O2-transport mechanism.