Synthesis of AuNPs decorated multi-valent Cu-Ni oxide nanoplates for electrochemical oxidation of methanol

Abstract

Cu-Ni oxide nanocomposite was synthesized via solvothermal method with nickel (II) nitrate and copper nitrate as Ni and Cu resource respectively. AuNPs/oxide nanocomposite was obtained by dispersing the oxide into the pre-synthesized Au colloid. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) shows that the synthesized oxides are nanoplate morphology. Interplanar distance from the high resolution TEM (HRTEM) image shows that the Ni and Cu in the oxide are multivalent state. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) characterization further proves that the Ni and Cu are multivalent state, and the Au is Au0 form in the nanocomposte. EDS-mapping images confirm large numbers of AuNPs are uniformly absorbed onto the ultra-thin multivalent Cu-Ni oxide nanoplate. The electrochemical properties of multivalent oxide (m-v oxide) with or without AuNPs decoration are investigated in 0.1 M potassium chloride electrolyte with 2.0 mM Ferri/Ferro-Cyanide. When employed for the electrochemical catalysis in methanol oxidation reaction (MOR), the AuNPs/m-v oxide exhibits better electrochemistry performance than m-v oxide. The current density of AuNPs/m-v oxide (21.1 mA/cm2) is 3.4 times bigger than that of m-v oxide/GCE (6.2 mA/cm2). What’s more, it shows good electrochemical stability and lower slope of the Tafel plot (41.87 mV/dec).

Keywords

• Cu-Ni oxide
• Multi-valence
• Methanol oxidation reaction
• Electrochemical catalysis