Abstract

This study presents a novel study to explore the electrocatalytic characteristics of platinum electrodes to obtain the electrocatalytic oxidation of petrol in non–aqueous solutions. A petrol sample was added into an electrochemical cell containing 0.1 M Tetrabutylammonium perchlorate (TBAP) in acetonitrile and studied using cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry. The results demonstrated that the metal content in TBAP acted as a catalyst, which effectively interacted with substances present in petrol and formed a new electroactive product, providing an electrochemical oxidation response at + 1.2 V. Inductively coupled Plasma analyses and statistical comparison of different TBAP salt brands, indicated that Calcium, Iron and Manganese were directly response on the catalytic electrooxidation. The electrochemical response of petrol was observed as a diffusion–controlled process on platinum electrode with an irreversible reaction. The electrochemical profiles were used to discriminate different brands of petrol using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Also, this behavior could be replicated in a simplistic manner using a model solution of Fe+3 and petrol.