Electrochemical fabrication of a cauliflower-like nanostructured Pd film from pure Pd and its applications in electrocatalysis and electroanalysis

• Published in: Electrochimica acta Vol. 107; pp. 537 - 541
• Main Authors: Xu, Shili, Zhang, Hefang, Huang, Fuli, Wang, Pengshu, Xia, Yue, Li, Zelin, Huang, Wei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 30.09.2013
• Subjects: Ascorbic acid; Electrocatalysis; Electrocatalytic oxidation; Electrochemical detection; Electrodes; Ethanol; Ethyl alcohol; Nanostructure; Nanostructured Pd film; Oxidation; Palladium; Voltammetry; Nanostructured Pd film; Electrocatalytic oxidation; Ascorbic acid; Electrochemical detection; Ethanol
• ISSN: 0013-4686; 1873-3859
• DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2013.06.054

•A cauliflower-like nanostructured Pd film was fabricated by just applying one double-potential step method.•The film fabrication involves the formation of K2PdCl4 salt from pure Pd and its electroreduction to Pd atoms.•The film electrode exhibits high electrocatalytic activities toward the oxidation of ethanol and ascorbic acid.•Good analytical performances in the higher-concentration regions are obtained on the film electrode. A cauliflower-like nanostructured Pd film (CNPF) has been fabricated by just applying one double-potential step on a pure Pd substrate in a KCl solution. The CNPF formation mainly involves the formation of K2PdCl4 salt from pure Pd and its electroreduction to Pd atoms. The as-prepared CNPF electrode exhibits high electrocatalytic activities toward the oxidation of ethanol and ascorbic acid (AA). The CNPF electrode is also employed to detect AA by means of constant potential amperometry (CPA) and cyclic voltammetry (CV), and good analytical performances in the higher-concentration regions are obtained. In CPA studies performed at −0.4V, the oxidation current is linearly dependent on AA concentration in the range of 0.1–7.5mM with a detection limit of 80μM (based on S/N=3), a short response time of about 3s and a high sensitivity of 589.80μAmM−1cm−2. Meanwhile, the peak current responses in CVs are linear over the broad range of 0.1–35mM with a sensitivity of 178.56μAmM−1cm−2. Besides, the CNPF electrode can also be used to detect AA in medicine vitamin C tablet with satisfactory results.