Electrocatalytic properties of carbon fiber cloth-supported flower-like Au nanostructures towards ethanol electrooxidation

• Electrodeposition of Au nanoflowers supported on CFC for ethanol oxidation is reported.
• Many thorn-like Au nanostructures have a common basis to form a single flower.
• The as-prepared electrode exhibits good catalytic performance for ethanol electrooxidation.

Well-defined Au nanoflowers (NFs) have been prepared on carbon fiber cloth (CFC) through a rapid, templateless, surfactantless, electrochemical route. The electrode (Au NFs/CFC) is characterized by scanning electron microscopy equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer and X-ray diffractometry. Ethanol elelctrooxidation on the flower-like Au electrode is studied by cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. The effects of applied potential, deposition time, and solution concentration on the morphology of the Au deposits are also discussed in our work. The Au NFs/CFC electrode exhibits much higher catalytic activity and remarkably improved utilization of Au than Au nanoparticles prepared by electrodeposition for ethanol electrooxidation owing to its unique open hierarchical structure. The size- and morphology-controlled Au nanostructures can be a promising candidate as the high performance anode for the application in fuel cells.