Bimetallic Cu-Rh Nanoparticles on Diazonium-Modified Carbon Powders for the Electrocatalytic Reduction of Nitrates.

4-Benzenethiol-functionalized high-surface-area graphite powder was prepared and decorated with bimetallic CuRh nanoparticles (NPs) to serve as electrocatalysts for the reduction of nitrates. In the first step, the HSAG powder was grafted with in-situ-generated diazonium compounds from 4-aminothiophenol (ATP) in an acidic medium using NaNO for the diazotization process. The surface composition was tuned using different initial quantities of ATP.