In-situ Synthesis of Graphitic Carbon Nitride/Gold Nanoparticle Nanocomposites for Electrocatalytic Reduction of Iron(III)

The graphitic carbon nitride/gold nanoparticle (g-C3N4/AuNP) nanocomposites were reported in this paper based on an in-situ synthetic method. After the protonation, ion-exchange, and chemical reduction processes, the g-C3N4/AuNP nanocomposites were successfully obtained. The proposed nanocomposites were investigated by various optical and electrical techniques, including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), cyclic voltammetry (CV), etc. The g-C3N4/AuNP nanocomposites showed excellent electrochemical properties and their preliminary applications toward electrocatalytic reduction of ferric iron were investigated. These nanocomposites exhibit promising prospects for practical application in electrochemical analysis.