Electroanalysis of oxygen reduction and formic acid oxidation using reduced graphene oxide/gold nanostructures modified electrode

• RGO/Au modified electrode was fabricated and characterized.
• Synergistic ORR activity was observed at the modified electrode.
• ORR followed a two electron transfer pathway to form H2O2.
• Oxidation of formic acid followed a dehydrogenation pathway at modified electrode.

The preparation of gold (Au) nanostructures electrodeposited on reduced graphene oxide (RGO) modified glassy carbon (GC) electrode and its application towards fuel cell reactions in alkaline medium are reported. The modified electrode was characterized by cyclic voltammetry, reflectance UV–VIS spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses. The Au nanostructures deposited RGO modified electrode showed synergistic catalytic behavior towards the electrocatalytic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The cyclic voltammogram recorded for the modified electrode revealed a quasi-reversible behavior for ORR and the Koutecky–Levich (K–L) plots showed a two-electron transfer process involved ORR at the modified electrode. The modified electrode also showed a good electrocatalytic activity towards the oxidation of formic acid. Therefore, the present work reports a facile method to fabricate RGO based noble metal nanostructures as electrocatalyst for fuel cell applications.

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