Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Enhanced electrochemical evolution of oxygen by using nanoflowers made from a gold and iridium oxide composite

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Microchimica Acta Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We report on the synthesis of a composite made from iridium oxide and gold that has a flower-like morphology. The ratio of iridium oxide to gold can be controlled by altering the concentrations of the metal precursors or the pH of the solution containing the reductant citrate. Scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and laser confocal micro-Raman spectroscopy were applied to characterize the structures of the nanoflowers, and a mechanism of their formation was deduced. The nanoflowers display an electrocatalytic activity in an oxygen evolution reaction (OER) that is significantly enhanced compared to bare iridium oxide nanoparticles. The highest turnover frequency for the OER of the new nanoflowers is 10.9 s−1, which is almost one order of magnitude better than that of the respective nanoparticles. These attractive features are attributed to the high oxidation states of iridium in the nanoflowers which is caused by the transfer of electronic charge from metal oxides to gold, and also to the flower fractal structure which is thought to provide a much more accessible surface than suspensions of the respective nanoparticle.

Gold and iridium oxide composites with nanoflower shapes have been successfully prepared. The nanoflowers display an electrocatalytic activity for the oxygen evolution reaction, which is significantly enhanced compared to bare iridium oxide nanoparticles.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Kanan MW, Nocera DG (2008) In situ formation of an oxygen-evolving catalyst in neutral water containing phosphate and Co2+. Science 321:1072

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Surendranath Y, Dincǎ M, Nocera DG (2009) Electrolyte-dependent electrosynthesis and activity of cobalt-based water oxidation catalysts. J Am Chem Soc 131:2615

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Nakagawa T, Beasley CA, Murray RW (2009) Efficient electro-oxidation of water near its reversible potential by a mesoporous IrO x nanoparticle film. J Phys Chem C 113:12958

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Yagi M, Tomita E, Sakita S, Kuwabara T, Nagai K (2005) Self-assembly of active IrO2 colloid catalyst on an ITO electrode for efficient electrochemical water oxidation. J Phys Chem B 109:21489

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Jiao F, Frei H (2009) Nanostructured cobalt oxide clusters in mesoporous silica as efficient oxygen-evolving catalysts. Angew Chem Int Ed 48:1841

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Morris ND, Suzuki M, Mallouk TE (2004) Kinetics of electron transfer and oxygen evolution in the reaction of [Ru(bpy)3]3+ with colloidal iridium oxide. J Phys Chem A 108:9115

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Hoertz PG, Kim Y, Youngblood WJ, Mallouk TE (2007) Bidentate dicarboxylate capping groups and photosensitizers control the size of IrO2 nanoparticle catalysts for water oxidation. J Phys Chem B 111:6845

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Youngblood WJ, Lee SA, Kobayashi Y, Hernandez-Pagan EA, Hoertz PG, Moore TA, Moore AL, Gust D, Mallouk TE (2009) Photoassisted overall water splitting in a visible light-absorbing dye-sensitized photoelectrochemical cell. J Am Chem Soc 131:926

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Harriman A, Pickering IJ, Thomas JM, Christensen PA (1988) Metal oxides as heterogeneous catalysts for oxygen evolution under photochemical conditions. J Chem Soc Faraday Trans 1 84:2795

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Kuwabara T, Tomita E, Sakita S, Hasegawa D, Sone K, Yagi M (2008) Characterization and analysis of self-assembly of a highly active colloidal catalyst for water oxidation onto transparent conducting oxide substrates. J Phys Chem C 112:3774

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Pestunova OP, Elizarova GL, Parmon VN (2000) Kinetics and mechanism of water catalytic oxidation by a Ru3+(bpy)3 complex in the presence of colloidal cobalt hydroxide. Kinet Catal 41:340

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Nagoshi K, Yamashita S, Yagi M, Kaneko M (1999) Catalytic activity of [(bpy)2(H2O) Ru–O–Ru(H2O) (bpy)2]4+ for four-electron water oxidation. J Mol Catal A Chem 144:71

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Nakagawa T, Bjorge NS, Murray RW (2009) Electrogenerated IrOx nanoparticles as dissolved redox catalysts for water oxidation. J Am Chem Soc 131:15578

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Gao L, Fan LZ, Zhang J (2009) Selective growth of Ag nanodewdrops on Au nanostructures: a new type of bimetallic heterostructure. Langmuir 25:11844

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Milliron DJ, Hughes SM, Cui Y, Manna L, Li JB, Wang LW, Alivisatos AP (2004) Colloidal nanocrystals heterostructures with linear and branched topology. Nature 430:190

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Shi H, Zhang ZX, Wang Y, Zhu QY, Song WB (2011) Bimetallic nano-structured glucose sensing electrode composed of copper atoms deposited on gold nanoparticles. Microchim Acta 173:85

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Li LQ, Yifeng E, Yuan JM, Luo XY, Yang Y, Fan LZ (2011) Electrosynthesis of Pd/Au hollow cone-like microstructures for electrocatalytic formic acid oxidation. Electrochim Acta 56:6237

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Zhao Y, Fan LZ, Zhong HZ, Li YF (2007) Electrodeposition and electrocatalytic properties of platinum nanoparticles on multi-walled carbon nanotubes: effect of the deposition conditions. Microchim Acta 158:327

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Luo ZH, Fu T, Chen K, Han HY, Zou MQ (2011) Synthesis of multi-branched gold nanoparticles by reduction of tetrachloroauric acid with Tris base, and their application to SERS and cellular imaging. Microchim Acta 175:55

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Yeo BS, Bell AT (2011) Enhanced activity of gold-supported cobalt oxide for the electrochemical evolution of oxygen. J Am Chem Soc 133:5587

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Tang J, Tang D, Niessner R, Knopp D (2011) A novel strategy for ultra-sensitive electrochemical immunoassay of biomarkers by coupling multifunctional iridium oxide (IrOx) nanospheres with catalytic recycling of self-produced reactants. Anal Bioanal Chem 400:2041

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Stowell CA, Korgel BA (2005) Iridium nanocrystal synthesis and surface coating-dependent catalytic activity. Nano Lett 5:1203

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Gabal MA, Asiri AM, AlAngari YM (2011) On the structural and magnetic properties of La-substituted NiCuZn ferrites prepared using egg-white. Ceram Int 37:2625

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Liu LJ, Yao ZJ, Liu B, Dong L (2010) Correlation of structural characteristics with catalytic performance of CuO/CexZr1-xO2 catalysts for NO reduction by CO. J Catal 275:45

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Peuckert M (1984) XPS study on thermally and electrochemically prepared oxidic adlayers on iridium. Surf Sci 144:451

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Chen RS, Huang YS, Liang YM, Tsai DS, Chi Y, Kai JJ (2003) Growth control and characterization of vertically aligned IrO2 nanorods. J Mater Chem 13:2525

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Wertheim GK, Guggenheim HJ (1980) Conduction-electron screening in metallic oxides: IrO2. Phys Rev B 22:4680

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Lee SP, Chen YW (2001) Effects of preparation parameters on the characteristics of NiP x B y nanomaterials. J Nanopart Res 3:133

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Flynn NT, Gewirth AA (2002) Attenuation of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy response in gold–platinum core-shell nanoparticles. J Raman Spectrosc 33:243

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Zhao D, Wang YH, Xu BQ (2009) Pt flecks on colloidal Au (PtˆAu) as nanostructured anode catalysts for electrooxidation of formic acid. J Phys Chem C 113:20903

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Frens G (1973) Controlled nucleation for the regulation of the particle size in monodisperse gold suspensions. Nat Phys Sci 241:20

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Zhao YX, Hernandez-Pagan EA, Vargas-Barbosa NM, Dysart JL, Mallouk TE (2011) A high yield synthesis of ligand-free iridium oxide nanoparticles with high electrocatalytic activity. J Phys Chem Lett 2:402

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Duan GT, Cai WP, Luo YY, Li ZG, Li Y (2006) Electrochemically induced flowerlike gold nanoarchitectures and their strong surface-enhanced Raman scattering effect. Appl Phys Lett 89:211905

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work is supported by NNSF of China (21073018), Beijing Municipal Commission of Education, and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China, 100875

    Chenxing Zhao, Yifeng E. & Louzhen Fan

Authors
  1. Chenxing Zhao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yifeng E.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Louzhen Fan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Louzhen Fan.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Zhao, C., E., Y. & Fan, L. Enhanced electrochemical evolution of oxygen by using nanoflowers made from a gold and iridium oxide composite. Microchim Acta 178, 107–114 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-012-0818-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-012-0818-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation