Facile One-Pot Synthesis of Silicon Carbide-Carbon Supported Gold Nanoparticles (Au/SiC-C) as a Durable Electrocatalyst for Electrochemical Oxygen Reduction Reaction

This study presents a simple one-pot method to synthesize gold nanoparticles supported on a silicon carbide-carbon nanocomposite (Au/SiC-C) as an efficient electrocatalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in an alkaline medium. The SiC-C support was prepared by carbothermal reduction of an iminosilane-resorcinol (ISR) composite, formed by the reaction of 3-aminopropyl triethoxysilane (APTES) with acetone and resorcinol. During ISR formation, the Au precursor was incorporated to produce ISR-supported gold nanoparticles (Au/ISR), which were subsequently transformed into Au/SiC-C. Here, imine groups in ISR served as reducing agents, eliminating the need for conventional reducing agents to convert Au3+ ions to Au nanoparticles. The formation of Au/ISR and Au/SiC-C was confirmed by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Raman spectroscopy. The Au/SiC-C catalyst exhibited effective ORR activity under alkaline conditions, achieving direct 4e– transfer with minimal H2O2 production.