Implementing hydrogen oxidation reaction on Pt for controlling counter electrode processes

Abstract

The search for active, stable, and durable materials for electrochemical energy technologies requires increasing levels of precision to establish true structure-function relationships and guide materials design from atomic and molecular scale. This increases the level of control required over the experimental system for proper materials evaluation. The choice of counter electrode material become crucial, as Pt dissolution at high voltages may cause contamination to the working electrode, especially when studying reductive processes in reactions such as oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), H₂ evolution reaction (HER), and the CO₂ reduction reaction. The learnings from “old school” electrochemistry groups lead us to leverage H₂ reactions over Pt to construct a counter electrode system with controlled potential that eliminates Pt ion contamination concerns. In here we discuss the construction of such Pt|H₂ counter electrode where key experimental aspects such as the H₂ flow rate and effective distribution determines the maximum current this counter electrode can accommodate before switching to high voltage and triggering Pt dissolution. Lastly, we demonstrate the use of the Pt|H₂ counter electrode in aqueous electrolytes during HER occurring on the working electrode at varying currents, showing that the Pt content in the cell remains below parts per trillion (ppt) up to 10 mA, and below 50 ppt at 100 mA up to 1 h of constant current hold. This work provides a guide to the implementation of Pt|H₂ counter electrodes to improve the precision of electrochemical experiments in search of highly active, selective, and durable materials for energy technologies.