Electrochemical Catalytic Oxidation Performance of a Nanoporous Gold Electrode

We have reported an investigation of the electrochemical catalytic performance of nanoporous gold. The nanoporous materials were prepared by an electrochemical alloying/de-alloying method in a non-aqueous 1 mol/L LiPF6 solution at room temperature. The electrochemical catalytic properties were then studied by cyclic voltammetry and chrono-amperometric measurements. The results show that the average ethanol oxidation currents on the nanoporous gold electrode reach 3.7 and 6.1 mA·cm-2 at 0 and 400 mV (vs SCE), respectively, in 0.5 mol/L KOH + 1.0 mol/L CH3CH2OH solution. These average currents are over 100 times higher than that of a polished gold electrode. The nanoporous gold materials demonstrate to possess highly stable electrochemical catalytical oxidation capability for ethanol.