Promotional role of gold in electrochemical methanol oxidation

Polymeric form of graphitic carbon nitride (CN) has attracted much attention in recent years because of their performance as a support material of various reactions. Here, we report the fabrication of CN and gold nanoparticle-decorated CN system for electrochemical methanol oxidation process. The microscopic, optical, thermal, and surface properties of the synthesized materials have been analyzed using different characterization techniques. Both the synthesized materials were successfully used as electrocatalyst for methanol oxidation reaction under the alkaline media. The stability and the tolerance of the synthesized catalysts have been studied, in connection with the title reaction, on the basis of oxophilicity of the gold. The strong coordination between gold nanoparticles and amine groups of CN facilitates the electron transfer from amine to metal, which makes the gold particles more electron rich and consequently makes the Au-CN system more active for electrocatalytic methanol oxidation reaction.