Abstract
In this article, PtAg alloy nanoislands/graphene hybrid composites were prepared based on the self-organization of Au@PtAg nanorods on graphene sheets. Graphite oxides (GO) were prepared and separated to individual sheets using Hummer's method. Graphene nano-sheets were prepared by chemical reduction with hydrazine. The prepared PtAg alloy nanomaterial and the hybrid composites with graphene were characterized by SEM, TEM, and zeta potential measurements. It is confirmed that the prepared Au@PtAg alloy nanorods/graphene hybrid composites own good catalytic function for methanol electro-oxidation by cyclic voltammograms measurements, and exhibited higher catalytic activity and more stability than pure Au@Pt nanorods and Au@AgPt alloy nanorods. In conclusion, the prepared PtAg alloy nanoislands/graphene hybrid composites own high stability and catalytic activity in methanol electro-oxidation, so that it is one kind of high-performance catalyst, and has great potential in applications such as methanol fuel cells in near future.
Highlights
Graphene, a single-atom-thick sheet of hexagonally arrayed sp2-bonded carbon atoms, has attracted intensive interests in recent years [1], owing to its large specific surface area, high thermal and electrical conductivities [2,3,4,5,6], great mechanical strength [7]
We reported to prepare PtAg alloy nanoislands/graphene hybrid composites based on the self-assembly of positively charged gold nanorods and Au@AgPt alloy nanorods on negatively charged graphene sheets
A nitrogen peak from PVP appeared in energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectra
Summary
A single-atom-thick sheet of hexagonally arrayed sp2-bonded carbon atoms, has attracted intensive interests in recent years [1], owing to its large specific surface area, high thermal and electrical conductivities [2,3,4,5,6], great mechanical strength [7]. Zhang et al [16] prepared mono-dispersed SnO2 NPs on both sides of single layer graphene sheets as anode materials in Li-ion batteries. They found much higher retention of SnO2-graphene composite than commercial SnO2 powder after 50 cycles. We reported to prepare PtAg alloy nanoislands/graphene hybrid composites based on the self-assembly of positively charged gold nanorods and Au@AgPt alloy nanorods on negatively charged graphene sheets. It was investigated that the prepared Au@AgPt alloy nanorods/graphene hybrid composites were used as a fuel cell electrocatalyst for methanol electro-oxidation. Methanol was electro-oxidized in an electrolyte containing 0.5 mol L-1 H2SO4 and 2 mol L-1 CH3OH in the potential range of -0.25 to 1.0 V at a sweep rate of 50 mV s-1
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