Sonochemical fabrication of reduced graphene oxide supported Au nano dendrites for ethanol electrooxidation in alkaline medium

Abstract

In this report, the experimental characterization of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) nanosheets supported highly branched Au nano dendrites were successfully synthesized by using simple two-step method, such as co-precipitation followed by sonochemical irradiation method. The as-prepared nano dendrites catalysts have open surface structures with enhanced catalytic activity. Both RGO supported Au nano dendrites with high index (411) surface and unsupported Au nano dendrites with a surface facet of (211) were characterized using electrochemical techniques, such as cyclic voltammetry (CV), chronoamperometry (CA), CO-Stripping voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and rotating disk electrode (RDE) to quantitatively obtained ethanol oxidation and oxygen reduction mechanism. The RGO supported Au nano dendrites possess small size with improved electrocatalytic activity than pure Au nano dendrites, suggesting that RGO nanosheets are a necessary material for catalyst activity improvement.