Free standing Pt–Au bimetallic membranes with a leaf-like nanostructure from agarose-mediated electrodeposition and oxygen gas sensing in room temperature ionic liquids

In order to overcome the difficulty of recycling and reusing the Pt–Au bimetallic particles in their supports during a catalytic process, and some problems in electrochemistry (that is, many development steps in an assay, high background signals, reliability and robustness of surface structures), a free-standing Pt–Au bimetallic membrane with impressive a leaf-like nanostructure was synthesized using agarose-mediated electrodeposition. The membrane is characterized by SEM, TEM, EDS, and XRD. The Pt–Au membrane electrode is tested by CV measurements. The membrane electrode presents very low background currents. The sharp nanoedges and nanotips on the membrane might offer many active centers for catalysis. Sensing behavior is reported for oxygen, O2, in various room temperature ionic liquids using Pt–Au electrode.