1. Well-defined polyindole–Au NPs nanobrush as a platform for electrochemical oxidation of ethanol
- Author
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Marianna Gniadek, Magdalena Osial, Magdalena Warczak, and Kamil Hermanowski
- Subjects
Ethanol ,Chemistry ,General Chemical Engineering ,Nanowire ,Nanotechnology ,02 engineering and technology ,General Chemistry ,010402 general chemistry ,021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology ,Electrocatalyst ,Electrochemistry ,01 natural sciences ,0104 chemical sciences ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Colloidal gold ,Well-defined ,0210 nano-technology - Abstract
Over the recent decades, conducting polymers have received great interest in many fields including microelectronics, energy conversion devices, and biosensing due to their unique properties like electrical conductivity, stability, and simple synthesis. Modification of conducting polymers with noble metals e.g. gold enhances their properties and opens new opportunities to also apply them in other fields like electrocatalysis. Here, we focus on the synthesis of hybrid material based on polyindole (PIN) nanobrush modified with gold nanoparticles and its application towards electrooxidation of ethanol. The paper presents systematic studies from synthesis to electrochemical sensing applications. For the characterization of PIN–Au composites, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analyses were used. The electrocatalytic performance of the proposed hybrid material towards alcohol oxidation was studied in alkaline media by cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy techniques. The results show that PIN–Au hybrid can be employed as an effective and sensitive platform for the detection of alcohols, which makes it a promising material in electrocatalysis or sensors. Moreover, the proposed composite exhibits electrocatalytic activity towards ethanol oxidation, which combined with its good long-term stability opens the opportunity for its application in fuel cells.
- Published
- 2021