Abstract: Au nanoparticles coatings were successfully electrodeposited from an electrode/reverse microemulsion system using the reverse microemulsion composed of Triton X-100, n-hexanol, n-hexane and aqueous gold chloride solution with strong acitity. The electrodeposition process of Au was studied by cyclic voltammograms and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The results indicated that the reduction of Au(III) was a completely irreversible process, and the impedance of the electrochemical reaction in the microemulsion was 5.5 times as high as that in water solution. The scanning electron microscopy images showed that the coatings electrodeposited from the reverse microemulsions were made up of gold nanoparticles with diameter about 50 nm. Due to the large specific surface area, the electrochemical reaction activity of the Au nanoparticles modified electrode was higher than that of the pure gold electrode, the Au nanoparticles modified electrode had good hydrogen evolution capability in acid solution and good electrocatalytic capability for glycerol oxidation in alkaline media.

Key words: Reverse microemulsion, Electrodeposition, Nanoparticles, Gold coatings