Electrooxidation of hydrazine catalyzed by noncovalently functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes with CoPc

We report on the electrooxidation of hydrazine catalyzed by single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) functionalized with cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPc) which shows that the presence of the single-walled carbon nanotubes enhances the catalytic activity of the CoPc itself without any change in the reaction mechanism. A synergistic effect, in terms of reactivity when the new nanocomposite material was adsorbed on the GC electrode, was observed. The obtained hybrid electrodes were tested under hydrodynamic conditions, showing two different oxidation processes, which suggest the presence of two different types of active sites on the electrode surface catalyzing the reaction. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) analyses in the presence of [Fe(CN)(6)](3-/4-) as a redox probe revealed that the GC/SWCNT + CoPc showed much lower electron-resistance (R-et) confirming the synergistic effect of the composite mentioned above. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) images showed the clear differences in surface roughness for each film, confirming the different compositions of the hybrid electrodes used in this study. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.