Electrochemical Formation of Silver Nanoparticles and Nanoclusters on Multiwall Carbon Nanotube Electrode Films

Abstract

The Ag nanoparticles and nanoclusters (AgNP, AgNC) have been widely used due to their multiple applications, for example, in catalysts for CO 2 to CO electrochemical reduction, O 2 reduction in fuel cells, interface design for plasmonic resonance experi- ments and H 2 O 2 or glucose sensors. The chemical methods most used to obtain AgNP, reported in the literature are: borohydride reduction, the Tollens method or the sonication at high concentrations of AgNO 3 . One important disadvantage of these methods is the multiple steps required for electrode design, especially in carbon materials, and one of them is MWCNTs, used in some applications mentioned above. Electrodeposition has been reported in the preparation of metallic particles. In this chapter, we described the electropolishing method in the preparation of AgNP and AgNC supported on MWCNT film. An advantage of this proposed method is that it allows obtaining AgNP and AgNC in situ, supported on carbon matrices, ready to use as electrodes in different applications .