The borohydride ion has been pointed as a promising alternative fuel. Most of the investigation on its electrochemistry is devoted to the electrocatalytic aspects of its electrooxidation on platinum and gold surfaces. Besides the known kinetic limitations and intricate mechanism, our Group has recently found the occurrence of two regions of bi-stability and autocatalysis in the electrode potential during the open circuit interaction of borohydride and oxidized platinum surfaces. Following this previous contribution, the occurrence of more complicated phenomena is here presented: namely the presence of electrochemical oscillations during the electrooxidation of borohydride on platinum in alkaline media. Current oscillations were found to be associated to two distinct instability windows and characterized in the resistance-potential parameter plane. The dynamic features of such oscillations suggest the existence of distinct mechanisms according to the potential region. Previously published results obtained under non-oscillatory regime were used to give some hints on the surface chemistry behind the observed dynamics.
borohydride electrooxidation; current oscillations; N-NDR oscillators
