New copper complexes incorporated with the one-step preparation of ionic liquid carbon paste electrode for highly selectively reducing hydrogen peroxide

•New copper complexes composed of a triazine-based ligand have been prepared.•The copper complexes were used as electrocatalysts for H2O2 reduction.•One-step method was used for preparing ionic liquid–copper complex carbon paste.•The copper complex containing CuCl2 shows the best sensitivity and selectivity.•The anions of the cupric salts determine the properties of the electrocatalysts.

New copper complex compounds composed of 2,4,6-tris(2-pyridylmethylamino)-1,3,5-triazine (TPMATA) and CuCl2/CuSO4 in water or ionic liquid (IL) were prepared. Two approaches were used to fix the copper complexes to the IL carbon paste electrodes through our previous one-step method. IL shows its advantage over the traditional organic binder paraffin oil because the electrodes demonstrated much higher activity towards hydrogen peroxide reduction. After introducing TPMATA–CuCl2 dissolved in IL to the electrode, the electrode shows the best current response and selectivity to hydrogen peroxide reduction.

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