Enhanced electrocatalytic performance of cobalt oxide nanocubes incorporating reduced graphene oxide as a modified platinum electrode for methanol oxidation

Muhammad Mehmood Shahid,Amir Moradi Golsheikh,Hong Ngee Lim,Nay Ming Huang,Alagarsamy Pandikumar

doi:10.1039/c4ra08952a

Muhammad Mehmood Shahid, Amir Moradi Golsheikh + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1039/c4ra08952a

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Journal: RSC advances	Publication Date: Jan 1, 2014
Citations: 89	License type: cc-by

Affiliation: University of Malaya, Universiti Putra Malaysia

Abstract

Cobalt oxide nanocubes incorporating reduced graphene oxide were prepared by a hydrothermal method and used for the electrocatalytic oxidation of methanol.

Highlights

The constantly increasing energy demand due to the depletion of conventional fossil fuel reserves and the rapid growth of environmental issues have led to the search for alternative power sources.[1,2] These include direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) as alternative green, environmentally friendly, and sustainable power sources that can directly convert the chemical energy of methanol into electrical energy.[3,4] A polycrystalline Pt electrode is the most commonly used electrode material in DMFCs
When the graphene oxide (GO) content was increased to 12 wt% in the rGO–Co3O4 nanocubes (Fig. 2(d)) many of the Co3O4 nanocubes were sandwiched between the disorderly stacked graphene sheets, and few of the Co3O4 nanocubes were exposed on the surface
The higher electrocatalytic activity of the rGO–Co3O4 nanocubes modi ed electrode was mainly due to the combination of the cubic Co3O4 structure and highly conductive reduced graphene oxide (Fig. 2 and 4) and this catalytic activity is good in agreement with the field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and

Summary

Introduction

The constantly increasing energy demand due to the depletion of conventional fossil fuel reserves and the rapid growth of environmental issues have led to the search for alternative power sources.[1,2] These include direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) as alternative green, environmentally friendly, and sustainable power sources that can directly convert the chemical energy of methanol into electrical energy.[3,4] A polycrystalline Pt electrode is the most commonly used electrode material in DMFCs. Metal oxide incorporating graphene composites have gained tremendous attention because of their low-cost, facile synthesis, high electrocatalytic activity, and durability in DMFC applications.[4,8,11,14,15] Currently, cobalt oxide (Co3O4) nanomaterials are more attractive due to their simple preparation method, diverse morphology, high catalytic activity, and applicability in electrocatalysis.[16] Recently, Co3O4 nanomaterials combined with graphene have shown excellent electrocatalytic activities These have been applied in the eld of electrochemical energy conversion and storage.[17] Xiao et al reported the in uence of the surface structure on the electrocatalytic activity of Co3O4 anchored graphene sheets toward an oxygen reduction reaction for a fuel cell application.[18]. The high electrochemical performance, low-cost, and ease of fabrication make these rGO– Co3O4 nanocubes modi ed electrode a potential candidate for direct methanol fuel cell applications

Experimental methods

Results and discussion

Conclusions