Electrodeposition of Gold on Fluorine-Doped Tin Oxide: Characterization and Application for Catalytic Oxidation of Nitrite

Sub-micrometer size gold particles were electrodeposited on a transparent fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) from acetonitrile solution containing $AuCl_4{^-}$ and tetramethylammonium tetraflouroborate (TMATFB) for detecting $NO_2{^-}$. A series of two-electron ($2e^-$) and one-electron ($1e^-$) reductions of the $AuCl_4{^-}-AuCl_2{^-}-Au$ redox systems were observed at FTO and a highly stable and homogeneous distribution of Au on FTO (Au/FTO) was obtained by stepping the potential from 0 to -0.55 V (vs. Ag/$Ag^+$). The Au/FTO electrode exhibited sufficiently high catalytic activity toward the oxidation of $NO_2{^-}$ with a detection limit (S/N = 3) and sensitivity of 2.95 ${\mu}M$ and 223.4 ${\mu}A{\cdot}cm^{-2}{\cdot}mM^{-1}$, respectively, under optimal conditions. It exhibited an interference-free signal for $NO_2{^-}$ detection with excellent recoveries from real samples.