One-pot solvothermal synthesis of reduced graphene oxide-supported uniform PtCo nanocrystals for efficient and robust electrocatalysis

Han-Bin Meng; Xiao-Fang Zhang; Yu-Lu Pu; Xue-Lu Chen; Jiu-Ju Feng; De-Man Han; Ai-Jun Wang

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2019.01.110

One-pot solvothermal synthesis of reduced graphene oxide-supported uniform PtCo nanocrystals for efficient and robust electrocatalysis

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2019 May 1:543:17-24. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2019.01.110. Epub 2019 Jan 28.

Authors

Han-Bin Meng¹, Xiao-Fang Zhang¹, Yu-Lu Pu¹, Xue-Lu Chen¹, Jiu-Ju Feng¹, De-Man Han², Ai-Jun Wang³

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Advanced Catalysis Materials, College of Chemistry and Life Sciences, College of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China.
² Department of Chemistry, Taizhou University, Jiaojiang 318000, China.
³ Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Advanced Catalysis Materials, College of Chemistry and Life Sciences, College of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China. Electronic address: ajwang@zjnu.cn.

PMID: 30772535
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2019.01.110

Abstract

Pt-based nanocomposites with low Pt utilization and high-activity by incorporating with other transition metals have received significant interest in catalysis. Meanwhile, loading Pt-based catalysts on graphene has great research value for improved stability and dispersity of the catalysts. Herein, a facile l-proline-mediated solvothermal strategy was reported to construct reduced graphene oxide (rGO) supported sheet-like PtCo nanocrystals (Pt₇₈Co₂₂ NCs/rGO) in ethylene glycol (EG). The as-synthesized nanocomposite manifested remarkably improved catalytic properties and chemical stability for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), surpassing home-made Pt₂₉Co₇₁ nanoparticles (NPs)/rGO, Pt₈₃Co₁₇ NPs/rGO, Pt₅₂Co₄₈ NPs, commercial Pt/C and Pt black catalysts. These scenarios demonstrated an improved catalytic performances by tailoring the feeding ratio of Pt:Co and introducing rGO as a support. This work provides some new insights to design rGO-supported Pt-based catalysts by engineering the shapes and compositions in practical fuel cells.

Keywords: Bimentallic nanocrystals; Hydrogen evolution reaction; Oxygen reduction reaction; Reduced graphene oxide; Solvothermal method.