The effect of different carbon-based CdTe alloys for efficient photocatalytic glucose electrooxidation

Abstract

The activated carbon (AC), graphene (G), reduced graphene oxide (rGO), carbon nanotube (CNT) supported CdTe photocatalysts at (50–50) atomic molar are synthesized by the sodium borohydride (SBH) method and characterized by the XRD, Micro-Raman, TEM-EDS, XPS, and TPx (TPR, TPO, and TPD) analyses. The CV, CA, and EIS electrochemical analyses are performed to investigate the catalytic activities of catalysts for photocatalytic glucose electrooxidation. Characterization analyses reveal that their electronic structures and surface properties change when carbon materials are doped with metal. The photocatalytic glucose electrooxidation results indicate that the 0.1 % CdTe(50–50)/CNT catalyst exhibited better photocatalytic activity, stability, and resistance than other catalysts both at dark (1.9 mA/cm 2 ) and under UV illumination (2.57 mA/cm 2 ). Therefore, the CNT-supported CdTe catalyst can be said a promising catalyst for direct glucose fuel cells.