Highly Stable Chiral Bimetallic Mesoporous Platinum-Ruthenium Electrodes for Enantioselective Recognition

Abstract

Chiral bimetallic mesoporous platinum-ruthenium (Pt-Ru) alloy films have been successfully synthesised via co-electrodeposition. When used as electrodes, these alloys show enhanced electrochemical activity, combined with an exceptional electrochemical stability, particularly under harsh oxidative conditions. The electrodes efficiently discriminate between mandelic acid enantiomers, with an enantioselectivity ratio of over 6, nearly triple that of previously reported chiral encoded platinum surfaces. Even after severe oxidative treatment under conditions that typically degrade the chiral properties, the Pt-Ru electrodes retain their chiral features. This unprecedented stability opens up interesting perspectives for using these alloys as robust and reliable tools for real-world applications related to chiral technologies.