One-Pot Electrochemical Synthesis of Lead Oxide-Electrochemically Reduced Graphene Oxide Nanostructures and Their Electrocatalytic Applications

In this paper, a new electrochemical method for the cathodic electrodeposition of lead oxide-electrochemically reduced graphene oxide (PbO-ERGO) from an aqueous solution was carried out in one-pot in the same solution containing Pb2+ and graphene oxide, leading to the direct formation of crystalline thin films at near-room temperature. XRD was employed to determine the crystallinity index of the PbO-ERGO nanostructures. SEM, XPS, EDS, and UV-visible spectroscopy techniques were employed to analyze the morphological, structural, and optical characteristics of the composite materials. Owing to the rapid charge transport in the composite materials of PbO-ERGO, rapid, and uniform photocurrent responses were observed. In addition, the PbO-ERGO composite electrode exhibited a 40 and 130 fold increase in the photocatalytic performance compared to PbO and ERGO electrodes, respectively. Then, the nanocomposite-modified electrode was applied for the nonenzymatic sensing of H2O2. A linear amperometric response to H2O2 was observed at concentrations in the range from 1 x 10(-5) to 10 x 10(-3) mol L-1. The sensitivity and detection limit of the PbO-ERGO electrode were estimated as 2.26 mu A mM(-1) cm(-2) and 2 x 10(-7) mol L-1, respectively, at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3.0.