Effective catalytic electrode system based on polyviologen and Au nanoparticles multilayer

Au nanoparticles encapsulated by very labile chloride ions are synthesised and characterised. Through layer-by-layer deposition technique they are stably anchored to an electrode surface, using a polyviologen derivative as the polycationic organic component. The structure and morphology of the multilayer is exhaustively studied by UV–vis spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The nanocomposite material shows very interesting electrocatalytic properties with respect to the reduction of H2O2, which occurs at particularly less negative potentials. Furthermore, the presence of Au nanoparticles inside the electrode coating greatly improves the sensitivity of the electrochemical system. The system results to be a well suitable sensor for H2O2 quantification, with high sensitivity and low detection limit.