Efficient and green electrochemical synthesis of 4-aminophenol using porous Au micropillars
Maxime Tranchant, Albert Serrà, Christopher Gunderson, Enrico Bertero, Jaume García‐Amorós, Elvira Gómez, Johann Michler, Laëtitia Philippe
Abstract
The development of new, efficient, chemoselective, and seemingly stable catalysts to rapidly convert 4-nitrophenol into 4-aminophenol, which is a particularly valuable chemical within multiple industries, is highly required. The use of non-toxic and non-corrosive chemicals for 4-aminophenol synthesis presents further challenges. We show a simple and scalable shape-controlled electrodeposition using a dual-template method for the synthesis of well-defined porous Au micropillar array electrodes to enhance electrocatalyst stability, efficiency, and durability during the electroreduction of 4-nitrophenol. Consequently, we avoid the use of toxic and aggressive chemical reducing agents and minimize the production of residues. Surface areas up to 55.2 m2 g−1 are achieved, which represent a substantial improvement over non-architectured Au film electrodes. Porous Au micropillars exhibit excellent yields (̴100 %), chemoselectivity (other byproducts are not detected), and a high kinetic constant of 2.5 × 10-2 min−1, which is impressively higher than those reported recently for Au thin films or Au-based electrocatalysts.