A facile, one-pot synthesis of highly branched Au nanocorals and their enhanced electrocatalytic activity for ethanol oxidation

Abstract

Gold nanocrystals (Au NCs), with a specific three dimensional (3D) dendritic structure, usually possess special properties which always attract considerable attention. Herein, novel dendritic Au nanocorals were prepared using an effective and facile one-pot strategy with polyallylamine hydrochloride (PAH) as a capping and shape control agent, and ascorbic acid (AA) as a reductant. The formation mechanism was investigated using time sequential evolution experiments, and the coral-like nanostructures originated from the aggregation and growth mechanism. Additionally, the prepared Au nanocorals showed excellent electrocatalytic activity and stability for the ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR), which could be attributed to the specific 3D dendritic structure and the significant change in the electronic structure of the Au atom.