Gold Decorated Graphene by Laser Ablation for Efficient Electrocatalytic Oxidation of Methanol and Ethanol

Abstract

A well-known limitation in the fabrication of metal-graphene composite has been the use of surfactants that strongly adsorb on the surface and reduce the performance of the catalyst. We demonstrate here a novel one-pot synthesis of gold nanoparticles by laser ablation of gold strip and in-situ decoration on graphene substrate. Not only the impregnation of nanoparticles was linker free, but also the synthesis by itself was surfactant-free. The composite materials were well characterized morphologically and functionally using electron microscopy, X-ray and electron diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, Zeta potential, electrochemical measurements and UV-Visible spectroscopic techniques. This linker-free gold-graphene based composite has been employed for catalytic applications pertaining to electrooxidation. We have explored the use of this composite as a binder-free electrode in electrocatalytic oxidation of methanol and ethanol in alkaline medium. Additionally, the onset potential for ethanol oxidation was found to be more negative, −100 mV, an indication of its promising application in direct ethanol fuel cells.