Abstract:

Polypyrrole（PPy）was prepared galvanostatically in an ionic liquid 1-ethylimidazolium trifluoroacetate（HEImTfa），and its electrocatalytic property for electro-oxidation of oxalic acid was investigated.As compared with PPy prepared in H₂SO₄ solution under the same conditions and platinum，the electrocatalytic activity of PPy-HEImTfa was greatly improved.In situ FTIR results showed that oxalic acid could be electro-oxidized to CO₂ with an intermediate，adsorbed COOH.In addition，the polypyrrole was very stable and was not easy to be over-oxidized even at a high potential.