Enhanced electrocatalytic activities towards the ethanol oxidation of nanoporous gold prepared via solid-phase reaction

The rational design of highly active electrocatalysts for ethanol electrooxidation reaction (EOR) is important for future commercial application of efficient direct ethanol fuel cells. Herein, we describe application of a solid-phase reaction for the creation of a well-defined, high-efficiency, nanoporous gold (NPG) electrocatalyst for EOR. The evaluation of the feature size and physical properties of the NPG electrocatalysts was undertaken using field-emission scanning electron microscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Additionally, the catalytic performance of the prepared NPG electrocatalysts was determined using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronoamperometry (CA), with results indicating that their enhanced electrocatalytic activities and long-term durability were highly dependent upon morphology. The created NPG exhibited a mass activity of 308 mA mgAu−1 toward EOR in alkaline media, which is much higher than those of nanostructured Au catalysts. In particular, 800-cycle CV and ...