Electrocatalytic reduction of nitrate to nitrogen on silver nanoparticles-polypyrrole composite film grown on cellulosic paper substrate

In this work, we describe a simple strategy for the preparation of a low-cost electrode material based on polypyrrole (PPy) film grown on an insulating cellulosic paper substrate via in-situ oxidative polymerisation technique and functionalised by silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) uniformly dispersed on its surface. The properties of the obtained AgNPs-PPy composites were characterised using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis. The electrocatalytic activity of the prepared electrode was investigated for the electroreduction of nitrate using cyclic voltammetry in 0.1 M KOH solution. Results demonstrated that the incorporation of AgNPs into the PPy matrix improves significantly the catalytic behaviour of this film. The effect on the electrode response of the amount of the incorporated AgNPs was also investigated. This paper highlights a simple procedure for the making of low-cost paper electrodes for the efficient reduction of nitrates.