Abstract: Tungsten carbide powder microelectrode (WC-PME) was prepared from tungsten carbide (WC) powders to be used as an electrocatalyst. Electrochemical reduction behaviour of p-nitrophenol (PNP) on the WC-PME was investigated using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and linear sweep voltammetry. It was found that reduction potential of PNP on the WC-PME was more positive than that on the Cu-Hg microelectrode and that WC had higher catalytic activity in the electroredution of PNP than Cu-Hg. Although the reduction potentials of PNP on the WC-PME and the Pt microelectrode were close to each other, the reduction current of PNP on the WC-PME was about 5 times as large as that on the Pt microelectrode. This result was mainly attributed to the surface morphological structure of WC.

Key words: Tungsten carbide, Powder microelectrode, p-nitrophenol, Electroreduction, Electrocatalyst