Electrocatalytic reduction of bromate based on Pd nanoparticles uniformly anchored on polyaniline/SBA-15

A nano-composite electrocatalyst of Pd nanoparticles (Pd-NPs) anchored on polyaniline (PANI) supported by mesoporous SBA-15 (Pd-NPs/PANI/SBA-15), was synthesized using an in situ chemical method. Transmission electron microscopy showed that the Pd-NPs were homogeneously dispersed. Fourier-transform infrared and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies confirmed that the Pd-NPs in the metallic state (Pd(0)) were predominantly immobilized on nitrogen sites in the PANI chains. The electrochemical performance of Pd-NPs/PANI/SBA-15 for electrocatalytic reduction of bromate (BrO3(-)) in an acidic medium was investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and amperometric measurement. The reduction peak in the CV curves in the region 0.12 to -0.22V (vs. SCE) corresponded to response of BrO3(-) electroreduction, and the reduction peak current was well fitted linearly to the BrO3(-) concentration. It is proposed that the bromate ions diffuse to the Pd-NPs active sites and then the electrocatalytic reduction occurred with the H(+) doped in PANI. Furthermore, by amperometric measurement, Pd-NPs/PANI/SBA-15 showed relatively high sensitivity with respect to BrO3(-) concentration in the range of 8μmolL(-1) to 40mmolL(-1). Continuous CV for 200 cycles proved that Pd-NPs/PANI/SBA-15 had excellent electrocatalytic stability. These results show that Pd-NPs/PANI/SBA-15 is effective for electrocatalytic reduction of BrO3(-) and has great potential for the fabrication of BrO3(-) electrochemical sensor.