Enhancement of Electrocatalytic Activity of Gold Nanoparticles for Hydrogen Oxidation Reaction by Sonochemical Treatment

Yang-Hee Lee, Gunn Kim, Minwoong Joe, Ji-Hoon Jang, Juyeong Kim, Kwang-Ryeol Lee and Young-Uk Kwon

We demonstrate that gold nanoparticles can become catalytically active for the electrochemical hydrogen oxidation reaction by a sonication treatment. Experimental data and theoretical calculations indicate that the activity arises from the supercooled molten state of gold nanoparticles which are enriched with coordinatively unsaturated gold atoms.