Fabrication of electrocatalyst based on nitrogen doped graphene as highly efficient and durable support for using in polymer electrolyte fuel cell

Abstract

Abstract In this work, we have used an efficient approach to prepare nitrogen-doped graphene supported Pt nanoparticles (Pt/N-rGO). The nitrogen-doped graphene nanocomposites (N-rGO) were derived from pyrolysis of graphene oxide/polyaniline composites in nitrogen atmosphere. X-ray powder diffraction, FTIR spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Transmission and Scanning electron microscopy (TEM&SEM) were used to characterize the morphology and microstructure of the prepared catalysts. The TEM and elemental mapping images indicate that metal nanoparticles are more uniformly dispersed on the surface of N-doped graphene than other supports, and Pt nanoparticles dispersed without any aggregation. The catalytic activity and durability of the catalysts was evaluated by various electrochemical techniques. Compared to undoped Pt/rGO and commercial Pt/C catalysts, an enhanced electrocatalytic activity was obtained in the case of the Pt/N-rGO with optimized composition and nanostructure. The maximum power density of MEA for Pt/N-rGO was 1.4 times more than that of MEA fabricated by commercial Pt/C 20%.