Reaction Mechanism of Ethanol Oxidation over Gold Catalyst under Alkaline Environment

摘要

Ethanol and other biofuels will play an important role in future low-carbon society. The direct use of such compounds in fuel cell is one of the promising options to realize high-efficiency utilization of biofuels. In this study, we focused on ethanol oxidation mechanism in alkaline environment as a first step to tackle the electrooxidation of biofuels in fuel cells. Gold is selected as a catalyst alternative to platinum. Density functional theory method was used to study the states of reactants in alkaline environment, surface coverage of gold catalyst, and reaction mechanism over gold catalyst.