Electrooxidation of the Paracetamol on Boron Doped Diamond Anode Modified by Gold Particles

The environment pollution, in particular that of the aquatic environment, by wastewater is a reality because it is discharged for the most part without treatment. The presence of pharmaceutical pollutants such as paracetamol in these waters can constitute a risk to human health. The objective of this work is to study the electrochemical oxidation of paracetamol using cyclic voltammetry on the boron doped diamond (BDD) anode and boron doped diamond modified by gold particles (Au-BDD) anode. The Au-BDD electrode was obtained by modifying the surface of BDD with gold particles. This was done by electrodeposition (chronoamperometry) in 0.5 M HAuCl4 and 0.1 M H2SO4 using a three pulse nucleation and growth process. Physical characterization with Scanning Electron Microscopy coupled with Dispersive Energy spectroscopy has shown that the Au-BDD surface presents asperities with the presence of microparticles and nanoparticles. The electrochemical characterization made in three electrolytic solutions (H2SO4, NaOH and KClO4) showed that Au-BDD has a high electroactivity domain than that of BDD. The study of the Benzoquinone-hydroquinone redox couple has shown a quasi-reversible character of these two anodes. It also revealed that Au-BDD has a more accentuated metallic character than BDD. The voltammetric measurements made it possible to show that the paracetamol oxidation is limited by the transport of material on each anode. This oxidation is characterized by the presence of an anodic peak in the support electrolytes stability domain. The paracetamol oxidation is rapid on Au-BDD than on BDD in the various medium explored, thus showing that Au-BDD is more efficient than BDD for the paracetamol oxidation by electrochemical means.