Nano-ZSM-5 zeolite: Synthesis and application to electrocatalytic oxidation of ethanol

Direct oxidation of small organic alcohols as the fuel for direct alcohol fuel cells leads to large over-voltages with low current on the surface of most unmodified electrodes. Developing new procedures for the electro-catalytic oxidation of ethanol to increase the produced current is very much desirable. This paper reports a new nano-sized zeolite-modified carbon paste electrode (NZMCPE) based on NiZSM-5 for ethanol electro-oxidation. Nano-crystallites of ZSM-5, with an average particle size of around 63 nm, were synthesized using clear solutions at the low temperature of 90 degrees C under atmospheric pressure. They were characterized using the XRD, Fr-IR and SEM techniques. Ni (II) ions were incorporated in the zeolite framework by the immersion of modified carbon paste electrode with the synthesized zeolite in a 0.5 M nickel chloride solution. The electrocatalytic oxidation of ethanol was investigated using the cyclic voltammetry technique and the rate constant for catalytic reaction through chronoamprometric method was calculated 1.23 * 106 cm(3) s(-1) mol(-1). (C) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.