Stimulation of ethylene glycol electrooxidation on electrodeposited Ni-PbO2-GN nanocomposite in alkaline medium

In this work, a novel system composed of non-precious nickel-based metal oxide/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite (Ni-PbO2-GN) is used for electrooxidation of ethylene glycol (EG) in 1.0 M NaOH solution and compares its activity with that of Ni, Ni-GN, and Ni-PbO2. The facile electrodeposition technique is used to prepare the catalysts on glassy carbon (GC) substrates. The outcomes of electrochemical measurements show a high performance towards EG oxidation is obtained for Ni-nanocomposite electrodes compared to that of Ni mainly due to their higher surface areas. The excellent electrocatalytic properties of the Ni-nanocomposite could be ascribed to the synergistic contributions of PbO2 and graphene (GN) nano-sheets that help the reduction of Ni grains. A smaller charge transfer resistance value of 34.5 omega cm(2) for EG oxidation reaction at + 360 mV is recorded for GC/Ni-PbO2-GN compared to the other prepared electrodes. Moreover, it exhibits higher kinetic parameters of EG such as diffusion coefficient (D = 3.9 x 10(-10) cm(2) s(-1)) and charge transfer rate constant (k(s) = 32.5 mol(-1) cm(3) s(-1)). The overall performance and stability of the prepared catalysts towards EG electrooxidation have been estimated to be in the order of GC/Ni-PbO2-GN > GC/Ni-GN > GC/Ni-PbO2 > GC/Ni.