In situ surface characterization and oxygen reduction reaction on shape-controlled gold nanoparticles

Gold nanoparticles of different shapes/surface structures were synthesized and electrochemically characterized. An in-situ surface characterization of the Au nanoparticles, which was able to obtain qualitative information about the type and relative sizes of the different facets present in the surface of the Au nanoparticles, was carried out by using Pb Under Potential Deposition (UPD) in alkaline solutions as a surface sensitive tool. The results obtained show that the final atomic arrangement on the surface can be different from that expected from the bulk structure of the well-defined shape Au nanoparticles. In this way, the development of precise in-situ methods to measure the distribution of the different sites on the nanoparticle surface, as lead UPD on gold surfaces, is highlighted. Oxygen Reduction Reaction (ORR) was performed on the different Au nanoparticles. In agreement with the particular sensitivity of the oxygen reduction to the presence of Au(100) surface domains, cubic Au nanoparticles show much better electrocatalytic activity for ORR than small spherical particles and long nanorods, in agreement with the presence of a great fraction of (100) terrace sites on the surface of cubic gold nanoparticles.