Page 32 - Book of Abstracts

th
8 Biannual Conference on Chemistry - CHEM 08

Preparation and Characterization of Porous
Electrocatalysts and Their Applications for Glycerol
Electro-oxidation

Mohamed R. Rizk*, Muhammad G. Abd El-Moghny, Gumaa A. El-
Nagar, Amina Mazhar, Mohamed. S. El-deab
Chemistry department, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Cairo,
Egypt.
Email: mkhater@sci.cu.edu.eg

ABSTRACT

Herein, Cu/Cu2O foams with dendritic-like structures were
electrodeposited atop smooth Cu electrode by dynamic hydrogen bubbles
technique and they were used as efficient electrocatalysts for glycerol
electrooxidation. The morphology, structure, and composition of the as-
prepared Cu/Cu2O foams were tuned by additives (e.g, KCl and NiCl2) in
the copper deposition bath to maximize their electrocatalytic performance
towards glycerol electrooxidation. The as-synthesized Cu/Cu2O foams
showed superior electrocatalytic activity towards glycerol oxidation
reaction, as demonstrated by the significant negative shift in the onset
potential (~400 mV) together with up to 6 times higher oxidation current,
compared to the Cu/Cu2O non-porous film with the same loading. The
performance of these foams was further improved via introducing
optimum amounts of either Ni and/or Cl ions. These additives resulted
2+
-
in a significant change in the structure and shape of the electrodeposited
Cu/Cu2O textures with a concurrent increase in their roughness. Material
and electrochemical characterization (e.g., SEM, XRD, XPS, LSV and CV)
techniques were used to link the observed enhancements into the
morphology, composition, and structure of the as-synthesized Cu/Cu2O
foam materials.

Keywords: Porous catalysts; Ni-doping; Electrocatalysis; Glycerol electro-
oxidation; Cu foam.

BOOK OF ABSTRACTS CHEM 08 (2020) Page 31