Electrochemical studies of catechol at ordinary and mesoporous platinum electrodes via convolutive voltammetry and numerical simulation methods

Abstract

On the normal platinum electrode and mesoporous Pt electrode, the electrochemical behaviour of catechol was studied using convolutive cyclic voltammetry and numerical simulation. The nanostructured mesoporous platinum structure was electrochemically deposited from the hexadic liquid crystalline template of C16EO8 surfactant. The electrocatalytic feature and reversibility of the mesoporous platinum electrode within the oxidation of catechol in 1.0 M HClO4 have been found to be extraordinary. At ordinary and mesoporous platinum electrodes, the separation between the peaks (∆Ep) became reduced from 430 to 75 mV vs. SCE. Catechol cyclic voltammograms show one anodic peak inside the forward scan, but the corresponding cathodic one disappears in the reverse direction, and a new peak is observed at a lower potential value at the ordinary Pt electrode. In the case of the mesoporous Pt electrode, the voltammogram gives one anodic peak inside the first scan of potential and one cathodic peak inside the reverse direction. On the basis of the electrochemical behaviour, we conclude an ECEC mechanism for the electrochemical oxidation of catechol in 1.0 M HClO4 at each electrode. A numerical simulation was used to verify the proposed electrode response. Graphical Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]