Nickel carbonate (Ni2(CO3)3) as an electrocatalyst and photo-electrocatalyst for methanol electro-oxidation

Iranna Udachyan; Jayesh T. Bhanushali; Shanti G. Patra; Tomer Zidki; Amir Mizrahi; Dan Meyerstein

doi:10.1039/D3TA02713A

Nickel carbonate (Ni₂(CO₃)₃) as an electrocatalyst and photo-electrocatalyst for methanol electro-oxidation†

Iranna Udachyan,

^a Jayesh T. Bhanushali,

^a Shanti G. Patra,

^ab Tomer Zidki,^a Amir Mizrahi^c and Dan Meyerstein*^ad

Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

^a Department of Chemical Sciences, The Radical Research Center, Ariel University, Ariel, Israel
E-mail: danm@ariel.ac.il

^b Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur 721302, India

^c Chemistry Department, Nuclear Research Centre, Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel

^d Department of Chemistry, Ben-Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, Israel
E-mail: danmeyer@bgu.ac.il

Abstract

Nickel carbonate was deposited electrochemically on Pt and Pd electrode surfaces by chronoamperometry. The electrodeposited Ni₂(CO₃)₃/Pt was characterized by a variety of techniques. The electrodeposited Ni₂(CO₃)₃/Pt and Ni₂(CO₃)₃/Pd were subsequently used for electrochemical and photoelectrochemical methanol oxidation reactions. The methanol oxidation reaction was studied using cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry techniques in the presence of KOH and Na₂CO₃ media. The electrochemically deposited Ni₂(CO₃)₃ on Pt and Pd electrodes showed enhanced activity towards methanol oxidation in KOH and Na₂CO₃ electrolytes. Ni₂(CO₃)₃/Pt displayed the highest forward scan peak current density of 19.8 mA cm⁻² at an anodic potential of 0.08 V vs. NHE, whereas Ni₂(CO₃)₃/Pd displayed the forward scan peak current density of 5.2 mA cm⁻² at an anodic potential of 0.2 V vs. NHE in KOH medium. Additionally, Ni₂(CO₃)₃/Pt and Ni₂(CO₃)₃/Pd demonstrated good photoelectrochemical activity under UV-light irradiation in KOH and Na₂CO₃ media. An anodic peak current density of 24.1 mA cm⁻² was observed for Ni₂(CO₃)₃/Pt and 7.4 mA cm⁻² for the Ni₂(CO₃)₃/Pd electrode. The comparison in activity of the Pt and Pd electrodes and the first-row transition metal carbonates namely cobalt and nickel carbonates was suggestive of the superior activity of Ni₂(CO₃)₃/Pt and Ni₂(CO₃)₃/Pd catalysts for the electrochemical methanol oxidation reaction.

This article is part of the themed collection: #MyFirstJMCA

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Article information

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D3TA02713A
Article type: Paper
Submitted: 07 May 2023
Accepted: 11 Jul 2023
First published: 11 Jul 2023

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J. Mater. Chem. A, 2023,11, 17769-17778

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Nickel carbonate (Ni₂(CO₃)₃) as an electrocatalyst and photo-electrocatalyst for methanol electro-oxidation

I. Udachyan, J. T. Bhanushali, S. G. Patra, T. Zidki, A. Mizrahi and D. Meyerstein, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2023, 11, 17769 DOI: 10.1039/D3TA02713A

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Journal of Materials Chemistry A