Electrocatalytic Oxidation of Formic Acid in an Alkaline Solution with Graphene-Oxide- Supported Ag and Pd Alloy Nanoparticles.

Abstract

The electrocatalytic activities of metal-decorated graphene oxide (GO) catalysts were investigated. Electrochemically reduced GO-S-(CH2)4-S-Pd [ERGO-S-(CH2)4-S-Pd] and GO-S-(CH2)4-S-PdAg alloy [ERGO-S-(CH2)4-S-PdAg] were obtained through the electrochemical reduction of GO-S-(CH2)4-S-Pd and GO-S-(CH2)4-S-PdAg in a pH 5 PBS solution. It was demonstrated that the application of ERGO-S-(CH2)4-S-Pd and ERGO-S-(CH2)4-S-PdAg used in a modified GCE improves the electrocatalytic oxidation of formic acid. The addition of an Ag nanoparticle with a carbon chain-Pd in the electrode provides an electrode with very interesting properties for the electrocatalytic oxidation of formic acid. The ERGO-S-(CH2)4-S-Pd and ERGO-S-(CH2)4-S-PdAg were characterized via X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). ERGO-S-(CH2)4-S-Pd and ERGO-S-(CH2)4-S-PdAg can be employed for the electrocatalytic oxidation of formic acid. The electrochemical behaviors of this electrode were investigated using cyclic voltammetry (CV), chronoamperometry (CA) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS).