A facile approach to silver nanowire array electrode preparation and its application for chloroform reduction

Herein, we report, for the first time, application of Ag nanowire array electrodes for electrocatalytic reduction of chloroform in an aqueous solution of 0.05 M KClO4. The activity of this electrode was compared with a bulk Ag electrode, and the peak potential shifted up to 280 mV to less negative values, suggesting improved catalytic properties toward the reduction of chloroform. The template-assisted potentiostatic electrodeposition of Ag nanowires from a cyanide-based solution was optimized. Particularly, the influence of working electrode potential and duration of electrodeposition on the length of nanowires, passed electric charge, pore-filling rate, and current efficiency was studied. A highly reproducible and fast fabrication of anodic alumina templates was achieved by optimizing operating parameters of the voltage pulse detachment and duration of wet chemical etching. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.