Catalytic performance of Pt nanoparticles on reduced graphene oxide for methanol electro-oxidation

• Published in: Carbon (New York) 2010-04, Vol.48 (4), p.1124-1130
• Main Authors: Li, Yongjie, Gao, Wei, Ci, Lijie, Wang, Chunming, Ajayan, Pulickel M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Catalysis; Chemistry; Colloidal state and disperse state; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Energy; Energy. Thermal use of fuels; Equipments for energy generation and conversion: thermal, electrical, mechanical energy, etc; Exact sciences and technology; Fuel cells; Fullerenes and related materials; diamonds, graphite; General and physical chemistry; Materials science; Physical and chemical studies. Granulometry. Electrokinetic phenomena; Physics; Specific materials; Theory of reactions, general kinetics. Catalysis. Nomenclature, chemical documentation, computer chemistry
• ISSN: 0008-6223; 1873-3891
• DOI: 10.1016/j.carbon.2009.11.034

We have investigated a simple approach for the deposition of platinum (Pt) nanoparticles onto surfaces of graphite oxide (GO) nanosheets with particle size in the range of 1–5 nm by ethylene glycol reduction. During Pt deposition, a majority of oxygenated functional groups on GO was removed, which resulted in a Pt/chemically converted graphene (Pt/CCG) hybrid. The electrochemically active surface areas of Pt/CCG and a comparative sample of Pt/multi-walled carbon nanotubes (Pt/MWCNT) are 36.27 and 33.43 m 2/g, respectively. The Pt/CCG hybrid shows better tolerance to CO for electro-oxidation of methanol compared to the Pt/MWCNT catalyst. Our study demonstrates that CCG can be an alternative two-dimensional support for Pt in direct methanol fuel cells.