Modification of a glassy carbon surface with amine-terminated dendrimers and its application to electrocatalytic hydrazine oxidation

Amine-terminated polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers were immobilized on glassy carbon electrodes (GCEs) via electrochemical oxidation of the terminal amine groups of dendrimers. The electrochemical immobilization of dendrimers was confirmed by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The immobilized dendrimer films were robust and behaved as charge-selective electrochemical gates for oppositely charged redox molecules. The immobilization approach was applied to assemble Au dendrimer-encapsulated nanoparticles (Au DENs, dia. 1.5 ± 0.3 nm) on GCEs, and the resulting Au DEN films showed electrocatalytic activity to hydrazine oxidation.