Bioreduction of Precious Metals by Microorganism: Efficient Gold@N-Doped Carbon Electrocatalysts for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Weijia Zhou; Tanli Xiong; Chaohong Shi; Jian Zhou; Kai Zhou; Nengwu Zhu; Ligui Li; Zhenghua Tang; Shaowei Chen

doi:10.1002/anie.201602627

Bioreduction of Precious Metals by Microorganism: Efficient Gold@N-Doped Carbon Electrocatalysts for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2016 Jul 11;55(29):8416-20. doi: 10.1002/anie.201602627. Epub 2016 May 24.

Authors

Weijia Zhou^{1

2}, Tanli Xiong³, Chaohong Shi³, Jian Zhou⁴, Kai Zhou³, Nengwu Zhu^{5

6}, Ligui Li³, Zhenghua Tang³, Shaowei Chen^{3

7}

Affiliations

¹ School of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510006, China. eszhouwj@scut.edu.cn.
² Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Atmospheric Environment and Pollution Control, Environmental Protection Key Lab of Solid Waste Treatment and Recycling, Key Lab of Pollution Control and Ecosystem Restoration in Industry Clusters, Ministry of Education, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Centre, Guangzhou, 510006, China. eszhouwj@scut.edu.cn.
³ School of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510006, China.
⁴ National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210093, China.
⁵ School of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510006, China. nwzhu@scut.edu.cn.
⁶ Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Atmospheric Environment and Pollution Control, Environmental Protection Key Lab of Solid Waste Treatment and Recycling, Key Lab of Pollution Control and Ecosystem Restoration in Industry Clusters, Ministry of Education, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Centre, Guangzhou, 510006, China. nwzhu@scut.edu.cn.
⁷ Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, USA.

PMID: 27218302
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201602627

Abstract

The uptake of precious metals from electronic waste is of environmental significance and potential commercial value. A facile bioreductive synthesis is described for Au nanoparticles (ca. 20 nm) supported on N-doped carbon (Au@NC), which was derived from Au/Pycnoporus sanguineus cells. The interface and charge transport between Au and N-doped carbon were confirmed by HRTEM and XPS. Au@NC was employed as an electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), exhibiting a small onset potential of -54.1 mV (vs. RHE), a Tafel slope of 76.8 mV dec(-1) , as well as robust stability in acidic medium. Au@NC is a multifunctional electrocatalyst, which demonstrates high catalytic activity in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), as evidenced by an onset potential of +0.97 V, excellent tolerance toward methanol, and long-term stability. This work exemplifies dual recovery of precious Au and fabrication of multifunctional electrocatalysts in an environmentally benign and application-oriented manner.

Keywords: biosynthesis; catalyst recycling; core-shell structure; electron transfer; hydrogen evolution reaction.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Carbon / chemistry
Carbon / metabolism*
Catalysis
Gold / chemistry
Gold / metabolism*
Hydrogen / chemistry
Hydrogen / metabolism*
Nanoparticles / chemistry
Nanoparticles / metabolism*
Oxidation-Reduction
Particle Size
Pycnoporus / cytology
Pycnoporus / metabolism*
Surface Properties

Substances

Carbon
Gold
Hydrogen