Reduced Graphene Oxide: Is it a promising catalyst for the electrochemistry of [UO2(CO3)3]4-/[UO2(CO3)3]5-?

The graphene has been emerging in the electrocatalysis and electroanalysis as the potent surface modifying agents for the working electrodes. However, the aqueous electrochemistry of the actinides on graphene (or graphene type materials) is yet unexplored. In this paper, the aqueous electrochemistry of [(UO2)-O-VI(CO3)(3)](4-)/[(UO2)-O-V(CO3)(3)](5-) redox couple was systematically investigated on electrochemically reduced graphene oxide (ERGNO) modified glassy carbon (GC) electrode in saturated Na2CO3 solution (pH similar to 12.3). This is the first report on aqueous actinide electrochemistry on graphene materials. The results showed that ERGNO could catalyse the redox chemistry of [(UO2)-O-VI(CO3)(3)](4-)/[(UO2)-O-V(CO3)(3)](5-) by reducing both the cathodic and anodic overpotentials compared to bare GC electrode. However, no enhancement in the peak current was observed on ERGNO electrode for the same reaction. Therefore, the present study introduces an appeal for a systematic investigation on the electrochemistry of the actinides at graphene materials to gear up their applications in nuclear technology. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.