Electrochemical preparation of iron cuboid nanoparticles and their catalytic properties for nitrite reduction

Iron cuboid nanoparticles supported on glassy carbon (denoted nm-Fe/GC) were prepared by electrochemical deposition under cyclic voltammetric (CV) conditions. The structure and composition of the Fe nanomaterials were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). The results demonstrated that the Fe cuboid nanoparticles are dispersed discretely on GC substrate with an average size ca. 171 nm, and confirmed that the electrochemical synthesized nanocubes are single crystals of pure Fe. The catalytic properties of the Fe cuboid nanoparticles towards nitrite electroreduction were investigated, and enhanced electrocatalytic activity of the Fe nanocubes has been determined. In comparison with the data obtained on a bulk-Fe electrode, the onset potential of nitrite reduction on nm-Fe/GC is positively sifted by 100 mV, and the steady reduction current density is enhanced about 2.4–3.2 times.