Glassy Carbon Electrode-Supported Au Nanoparticles for the Glucose Electrooxidation: On the Role of Crystallographic Orientation

Abstract EN

Glucose electrooxidation in alkaline solution was examined using glassy carbon electrodes modified with Au nanoparticles.

Au nanoparticles were prepared following the two-phase protocol and characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV-Vis spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), and cyclic voltammetry (CV).

It was found that, under the study conditions, it is possible to obtain nanoparticles between 1 and 5 nm; also it was found that the crystallographic orientation is strongly influenced by the ratio metal/thiol and to a lesser extent by the synthesis temperature.

The voltammetric response for the electrocatalytic oxidation of glucose at carbon Au nanoparticle-modified electrode shows an increasing activity with nanoparticles size.

Electroactivity and possibly selectivity are found to be nanoparticles' crystallographic orientation dependent.

Classical electrochemical analysis shows that glucose electrooxidation is a diffusion-controlled process followed by a homogenous reaction.