Development of nanoporous gold electrodes for electrochemical applications

✍ Scribed by Xueling Quan; Lee M. Fischer; Anja Boisen; Maria Tenje

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 460 KB
• Volume: 88
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0167-9317
• DOI: 10.1016/j.mee.2010.12.121

✦ Synopsis

In this work we have used simple microfabrication techniques and chemical de-alloying of co-sputtered AgAu alloys to create nanoporous gold (np-Au) electrodes. The physical properties of the np-Au electrodes were investigated using scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray analysis, X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy and profilometer. The electrochemical performance of the np-Au electrodes was measured by cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. We have fabricated np-Au electrodes with pore sizes between 10 nm and 60 nm, directly related to the Ag:Au ratio. The electrochemical results reveal that np-Au electrodes have much lower impedance than the conventional Au electrodes, due to the significantly higher surface area to volume ratio of np-Au. The np-Au electrodes made from Ag 66 Au 34 and Ag 60 Au 40 show more than 10-fold magnitude reduction in impedance compared to conventional Au electrodes. These results show that np-Au electrodes have a great potential for electrochemical applications.