Ethanol oxidation reaction on a gold-incorporated polypyrrole composite film

In this study, we electrochemically synthesized thin gold-polypyrrole (Au-PPy) composite films on silicon substrates. The resulting electrodes (Au-PPy/Si) exhibited high electrocatalytic activity for ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR) in alkaline media. We performed number analysis including atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) to characterize the morphological and structural properties of the electrodeposits. We showed that the presence of the PPy film facilitates the dispersion of Au microparticles on the electrode surface, thereby enhancing the catalytic activity of the electrode for the oxidation of ethanol.