Ultrathin graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets and graphene composite material as high-performance PtRu catalyst support for methanol electro-oxidation

Abstract

Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) has been demonstrated as an advanced support material for Pt nanoparticles (NPs) due to its excellent stability and abundant Lewis acid for anchoring metal NPs. However, its non-conductive nature and low surface areas still impede its application in electrochemical fields. Herein, a π–π stacking method is presented to prepare graphene/ultrathin g-C3N4 nanosheets composite support for PtRu catalyst. The weaknesses of g-C3N4 are greatly overcome by establishing a 2D layered structure. The significantly enhanced performance for this novel PtRu catalyst is ascribed to reasons as follows: the homogeneous dispersion of PtRu NPs on g-C3N4 nanosheets due to its abundant Lewis acid sites for anchoring PtRu NPs; the excellent mechanical resistance and stability of g-C3N4 nanosheets in acidic and oxidative environments; the increased electron conductivity of support by forming a layered structure and the strong metal-support interaction (SMSI) between metal NPs and g-C3N4 NS.