Electrodeposition of Platinum Nanoparticles from Different Supporting Electrolyte Concentrations for Ethanol Electrooxidation

Abstract

A square-wave deposition technique synthesized platinum (Pt) nanoparticles as electrocatalysts for the ethanol electrooxidation reaction. The electrodeposition was conducted in a solution with different concentrations of H2SO4 as a supporting electrolyte. Structural analysis using an X-ray diffractometer shows that a face-centered cubic of Pt nanoparticles was successfully deposited on the substrate. At a supporting electrolyte concentration of 0.5 M, the granular particles with rough surface nanoparticles were formed. The delicate spikes, which became thicker by increasing the supporting electrolyte concentration, were found to grow on the surface of the particles. The cyclic voltammogram showed that the highest anodic current from the ethanol electrooxidation reaction was obtained by Pt0.5M, which was found to exhibit a low charge transfer resistance measured by an electrochemical impedance spectroscopy technique.