Amino acid-assisted preparation of reduced graphene oxide-supported PtCo bimetallic nanospheres for electrocatalytic oxidation of methanol

摘要

In this work, we prepared reduced graphene oxide-supported PtCo nanospheres (PtCo/rGO) by a facile one-step hydrothermal method with the assistance of l-proline as the shape-directing agent. We systematically investigated the effects of various experimental conditions on the morphology and structure of the as-prepared PtCo/rGO hybrids. Compared with commercial Pt/C (10wt%) and Pt/rGO catalysts, the as-prepared PtCo/rGO has better catalytic activity and poisoning resistance toward methanol electrooxidation and can be used as a promising catalyst for direct methanol fuel cells.Graphical abstractThe rGO-supported PtCo nanosphere hybrids are successfully synthesized by a facile one-pot hydrothermal method with the assistance of l-proline. l-proline acts as shape-controlled agent for synthesizing PtCo/rGO. The as-prepared PtCo/rGO hybrids exhibit a higher electrocatalytic activity and poisoning-resistant ability for methanol oxidation in acidic media.