A ternary nanooxide NiO-TiO2-ZrO2/SO42− as efficient solid superacid catalysts for electro-oxidation of glucose

Abstract A ternary composite of NiO and TiO 2 -ZrO 2 /SO 4 2− solid superacid were synthesized and investigated as efficient anode catalysts for glucose electrooxidation. From X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM), the precursors were found to convert into corresponding nanooxides. They were well dispersed with a size of approximate 70 nm. The nanostructure was also analyzed by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results showed that NiO-TiO 2 -ZrO 2 nanooxides were modified by SO 4 2− and solid superacid NiO-TiO 2 -ZrO 2 /SO 4 2− have been synthesized. The electrochemical measurements indicated that, compared with NiO, the current density of NiO-TiO 2 -ZrO 2 /SO 4 2− modified GC electrode increased 27% in 0.1 M NaOH solution with 10 mM glucose. Moreover, the kinetic results showed that the glucose electrooxidation on NiO-TiO 2 -ZrO 2 /SO 4 2− is a surface controlling process. In a word, NiO-TiO 2 -ZrO 2 /SO 4 2− nanoparticles possessed high catalytic activity and good stability in alkaline medium for glucose oxidation reaction (GOR).