One-pot synthesis of a high performance chitosan-nickel oxyhydroxide nanocomposite for glucose fuel cell and electro-sensing applications

By El-Nagar, Gumaa A.; Derr, Igor; Fetyan, Abdulmonem; Roth, Christina
Published in Applied Catalysis B: Environmental NULL 2017

Abstract

Abstract This study introduces an alternative promising Pt-free catalyst of chitosan-nickel oxyhydroxide nanocomposite (nano-CS-NiOOH) with outstanding activity and durability towards glucose electrooxidation (Gox) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) compared to precious metal-based catalysts. Nano-CS-NiOOH modified glassy carbon (GC) electrode (nano-CS-NiOOH/GC) exhibits superb electrocatalytic activity, molecular selectivity and long-term durability for Gox. For instance, nano-CS-NiOOH/GC electrode shows ca. 10 times higher electrocatalytic activity and stability for Gox compared to nano-NiOOH/GC electrode with the same NiOOH weight. Additionally, the nano-CS-NiOOH/GC electrode exhibits a glucose sensitivity of 687 ?A mM?1 cm?2, which is 34-fold greater than that obtained at the nano-NiOOH/GC electrode (20 ?A mM?1 cm?2) with lowest detection limit of 20 nM based on a signal-to-noise ratio of 3 and a linear range up to 8 mM. Furthermore, nano-CS-NiOOH/GC electrode showed a superior electrocatalytic activity and durability for both {ORR} and {OER} in alkaline medium compared to the commercial Pt/C electrode making it a high-performance non-precious metal-based bifunctional catalyst. NiOOH is believed to play a crucial role as a catalytic mediator to facilitate the charge transfer and chitosan is thought to enhance the catalytic activity and durability via stabilizing ?-NiOOH and improving the adsorption of active species through its {NH2} and {OH} like functionalities.

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