One-pot synthesis of platinum nanoparticles embedded on reduced graphene oxide for oxygen reduction in methanol fuel cells

Abstract

A simple approach has been developed for the synthesis of Pt nanoparticles with uniform diameters of approximately 2.9 nm supported on reduced graphene oxide (RG-O) platelets via a modified polyol method. Compared to Johnson Matthey (JM) Pt/C (75 wt Pt) catalyst, the Pt/RG-O (70 wt Pt) composite showed much higher electrochemical surface area, greater catalytic activity towards the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), and significantly better single cell polarization performance. The maximum power density of the Pt/RG-O composite was about 128 mW cm -2, an 11 greater than the JM Pt/C commercial catalyst. © 2011 The Electrochemical Society.