Study On The Electro–catalytic Performance And Surface Modification Of Nanoporous Ti–Cu Amorphous Alloy

This work describes electro–catalytic oxidation behavior over nanoporous structure catalyst (OS) prepared by dealloying Ti–Cu amorphous alloy and modified nanoporous catalyst. Ni and CdSe modified nanoporous catalysts (Ni–OS and CdSe–OS) were prepared by pulse voltage electrodeposition and galvanostatic electrodeposition, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to characterize primary and modified nanoporous catalysts. Electro–catalytic performances in acid and alkaline mediums were measured by cyclic voltammetry (CV), chronoamperometry (CA) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS).The results showed that OS exhibited apparent electro–catalytic ability in terms of higher oxidation current in CV and CA curves comparing to raw Ti–Cu amorphous alloy. Electro–oxidation of ethylene glycol (EG) took place more easily in alkaline medium than that in acid medium. In acid medium, heat treatment improved the electro–catalytic activity of nanoporous catalyst. In alkaline medium, heat treatment played an enhancing role below 0.1 V and a depressing role above 0.1 V. Probable electro–oxidation mechanism of EG on nanoporous Ti–Cu amorphous alloy was demonstrated as a sequent process of oxidation and adsorption–desorption of EG and its reaction products. SEM of Ni–OS showed that the closer Ni particle from OS, the smaller Ni particle was. For CdSe deposition, small nanoparticles with diameter of 10 nm were deposited on OS uniformly after galvanostatic electrodeposition. However, formation of CdSe compound was not perfect. CV test of Ni–OS for EG oxidation showed that the oxidation current had a great increase, which was ascribed from the co–oxidation of Ni and EG.