เบญจพร เลิศอนันตวงศ์. Gas Phase and Solution Phase Electroanalysis Using Gold Electrodes. Doctoral Degree(Biotechnology). King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi. KMUTT Library.. : King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, 2553-06-30.
Gas Phase and Solution Phase Electroanalysis Using Gold Electrodes
Abstract:
This dissertation concerns the use of three different forms of gold as a working
electrode material for the analysis of small organic molecules based on direct current
(dc) voltammetry and Fourier Transform alternated current (FT-ac) voltammetry. Three
aspects are considered: gold planar electrodes and interdigitated microarray electrodes
for ethylene detection, the electrochemistry of gold in aqueous solution studied by large
amplitude FT-ac voltammetry and the mediated oxidation of ascorbic acid using planar
gold and gold nanoparticles.
In the first approach, preliminary experiments are described in the development of
a voltammetric sensor for ethylene gas. Different ferrocenes were examined in
a mixture of acetonitrile and phosphate buffer solution. Ferrocene dicarboxylic acid
(Fc(COOH)2) was found to have the highest electrocatalytic effect. Gold IDA electrodes
coated by an ionically conducting polymer gel were used to detect ethylene in the gas
phase. Different gels were examined, including hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC), cubic
phase liquid crystal monoolein, poly(vinyl alcohol) and Nafion. The gels were
examined by placing the IDA at one end of a U-tube, connected to a gas flow system,
and were examined in both humid and dry conditions. For gels in which charge
transport was purely diffusional, the diffusion coefficient of Fc(COOH)2 in those gels
was determined by steady state collector-generator experiments. The steady state
response to gas phase ethylene was recorded using a flow system with nitrogen as
diluent. The electrooxidation of ethylene at the Fc(COOH)2-IDA gave a higher
sensitivity than that of a Fc(COOH)2 free-IDA. However, in contrast to the notable
cyclic voltammetric response of Fc(COOH)2 to ethylene, a rotating disk electrode study
showed only a small electrocatalytic response from this reaction.
The second form of gold addressed was that of a planar electrode, which showed
a significant faradaic processes occurring within the double layer region in either
sulfuric acid or sodium hydroxide using an FT-ac technique. Gold was cathodically
pretreated to generate an active gold surface or low coordination adatoms (Au*) which
are oxidized at low potentials to form Au hydrous oxide species. The reversible nature
of this transition was related to the stability of the hydrous oxide species. During the
course of irreversible electrocatalytic reactions the FT-ac technique revealed that there
exists one or in some cases two underlying interfacial electron transfer process which
are fast and extremely effective in mediating the gold electrode reactions.
The third form of gold examined was that of gold nanoparticles (NPs). Both
nanoparticulate gold and planar gold were used to study the electro-oxidation of
ascorbic acid (H2A) in acetate buffer, and the results were compared to other electrode
materials such as GC, BDD, and ITO by employing dc and FT-ac voltammetry
measurements. At nanoparticulate gold, the overpotential for H2A oxidation was
lowered by about 200 mV, with an obviously increased current response. For the
mediated oxidation of H2A with ferrocene methanol (FcMeOH) at gold and GC, it was
found that the underlying reversible redox chemistry of FcMeOH, as detected by FT-ac
in the fifth harmonic, was totally unaffected by introduction of the catalytic process. In
contrast, for the quasi-reversible of FcMeOH at ITO, slight changes in the redox process
were detected when the catalytic reaction was present. Simulations of a simple catalytic
reaction scheme supported the conclusions of this novel FT-ac voltammetric approach
for examining mechanistic nuances of catalytic forms of electrochemical reactions. On
the basis of kinetic parameters and reaction orders, a possible mechanism was proposed
for the FcMeOH - H2A reaction. The 2nd chemical reaction was found to be the ratedetermining
step with kf equal to 2000 M-1 s-1.