Facile synthesis of gold nanoflowers and their application in glycerol electro-oxidation

Gold nanoflowers were prepared using the Satureja macrostema aqueous extract. The size of the nanoflowers was determined to be an average of 730 nm in length, with a thickness of 10 nm, as measured by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and DLS. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirmed the nanoscale size and the FCC cubic crystalline structure of the flowers, with a crystallite size of 10 nm, and the specific surface area using the BET method was 36.53 m(2)g(-1). Infrared (FTIR) and gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS) were used to identify the reducing compounds responsible for forming the nano-flowers from HAuCl4. The nanoflowers exhibited a maximum current density of 1510 mA mg(-1) and 819 mA mg(-1) for the electro-oxidation of analytical and crude glycerol in an alkaline medium, respectively. The nano-flowers were found to be stable after 60 min of chronoamperometry testing, which may be attributed to their morphology, preferential orientation, and the remaining surface molecules of the plant extract.