Plasma synthesis of Pt nanoparticles on 3D reduced graphene oxide- carbon nanotubes nanocomposites towards methanol oxidation reaction

摘要

The reduced graphene oxide and carbon nanotubes supported Pt nanocomposites (Pt/GNTs) with high catalytic activity for methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) have been prepared via tuning the mass ratio of graphene oxide (GO) and multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The H-2 plasma discharge technique was employed to irradiate catalyst precursor for reducing Pt ions and GO because of high energy electrons and activated ions in plasma. Compared with other as-prepared composites and commercial Pt/C, Pt/GNTs (GO: CNT = 1: 2) exhibited higher electrochemical performances, which is attributed to the synergic effects of graphene and CNTs. The forward current density of Pt/GNTs (GO: CNT = 1:2, 691.1 mA mg(-1)) is much larger than that of commercial Pt/C (368.2 mA mg(-1)) for MOR. After 3600 s chronoamperometry (CA) test, the current density also remains 97.9 mA mg(-1), which is 2.2 times larger than commercial Pt/C (44.1 mA mg(-1)). In addition, the dispersion of Pt nanoparticles (NPs) on GO and CNTs is much related to the mass ratio of them owing to the difference of oxygen-containing functional groups. Meanwhile, the addition of GO seems to promote the anti-poisoning ability of catalysts due to the hydroxyl (AOH) oxidation for intermediate carbonaceous species. This work is meaningful to prepare other Pt based catalysts for MOR, and the as-prepared Pt/GNTs (GO: CNT = 1:2) is a promising novel metal catalyst for the application to new-style direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.