Electrochemical fabrication of nanostructured surfaces for enhanced response

The objective of this work is to explore approaches to enhance electrochemical signals through sequential deposition and capping of gold particles. Gold nanoparticles are electrodeposited from KAuCl(4) solution under potentiostatic conditions on glassy carbon substrates. The number density of the nanoparticles is increased by multiple deposition steps. To prevent secondary nucleation processes, the nanoparticles are isolated after each potentiostatic deposition step by self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of decanethiol or mercaptoethanol. The increasing number of particles during five deposition/protection rounds is monitored by assembling electroactive SAMs using a ferrocene-labeled alkanethiol. A precise estimation of the surface area of the gold nanoparticles by formation of an oxide layer on gold is difficult due to oxidation of the glassy carbon surface. As an alternative approach, the charge flow of the electroactive SAM is used for surface measurement of the gold surface area. A sixfold increase in the redox signal in comparison to a bulk gold surface is observed, and this increase in redox signal is particularly notable given that the surface area of the deposited nanoparticles is only a fraction of the bulk gold surface. After five rounds of deposition there is a gold loading of 1.94 mug cm(-2) of the deposited nanoparticles as compared to 23.68 mug cm(-2) for the bulk gold surface. Remarkably, however, the surface coverage of the ferrocene alkanethiol on the bulk material is only 10 % of that achieved on the deposited nanoparticles. This enhancement in signal of the nanoparticle-modified surface in comparison to bulk gold is thus demonstrated not to be attributable to an increase in surface area, but rather to the inherent properties of the surface atoms of the nanoparticles, which are more reactive than the surface atoms of the bulk material.