Manufacturing Au-Electroplated Carbon Fiber Cloth Electrode for Hydrogen Peroxide Fuel Cells

To begin electroplating gold on carbon fiber cloth, gather the reagents required for electroplating, which include chloroauric acid, potassium chloride, hydrochloric acid, and deionized or DI water. In a clean beaker, prepare an 80 milliliter solution by combining appropriate amounts of all the reagents in DI water. After that, seal the container, and stir the solution for 15 minutes to prepare the plating solution.

Next, set up the electroplating material carbon cloth, and plating solution in the electrochemical station, or ES, and immerse the counter in reference electrodes into the platting solution. After starting the ES, set the program to chronoamperometry method and set the electroplating circles at 800, 1, 600, 2, 400, and 3, 200 circles. Then run the program.

Once the electroplating is done, close the ES.After packing the reagents, collect the gold electroplated carbon fiber cloth. Immerse the cloth in DI water three times to remove the solution residues, and place it on a glass surface for drying in the air. During electroplating, the portion of the carbon fiber cloth that was clamped remains unplated cut those unplated parts of the gold electroporated carbon fiber cloth.

Then using a ruler, measure the length and breadth of the electroplated fiber cloth to calculate current by power densities. The carbon fiber cloth color changed from black to golden yellow after electroplating, confirming the effective deposition of gold on it. Successful electroplating was further verified by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy or SEM imaging.

The SEM images indicated a uniform dispersion of gold nanoparticles across the carbon fiber cloth. Remarkably, the original three-dimensional porous structure of the carbon fiber remained well preserved post electroplating. The color transition from black to gold intensified as the number of electroplating cycles increased, suggesting an increase in the volume of gold deposition.

The same was confirmed from the SEM images.