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.