Effect of solution acidity on methanol oxidation for platinum electrode

The electrochemical behavior of the methanol oxidation on the platinum electrode with different concentration H2SO4 solution was studied by using cycl ic voltammetry. The solution acidity scarcely affected the oxidation characteris tic of methanol on platinum. The peak potentials for methanol oxidation changed little, and reached 0.17 V and -0.03 V(vs. Hg / Hg2SO4) for potential forward an d backward scan respectively. However, the solution acidity affected the rate of methanol oxidation on platinum. The current of methanol oxidation increased wit h the decreasing of the solution acidity. This phenomenon could be explained by the difference of the formation of platinum oxide on platinum.