Synthesis, characterization and properties of the graphene supported platinum–cobalt nanocatalysts

Jolita Jablonskienė; Virginija Kepenienė; Agnė Matusevičiūtė; Audrius Drabavičius; Loreta Tamašauskaitė-Tamašiūnaitė; Eugenijus Norkus

doi:10.6001/chemija.2015.26.3.3

Jolita Jablonskienė
Virginija Kepenienė
Agnė Matusevičiūtė
Audrius Drabavičius
Loreta Tamašauskaitė-Tamašiūnaitė
Eugenijus Norkus

DOI: https://doi.org/10.6001/chemija.2015.26.3.3

Keywords: Pt, Co, graphene, methanol oxidation

Abstract

The graphene (GR) supported PtCo catalysts with different Pt:Co molar ratios were fabricated by means of the rapid microwave heating method. The size and shape of catalyst nanoparticles were determined by means of Transmission Electron Microscopy. Electrochemical properties of the PtCo/GR catalysts were investigated towards the electro-oxidation of methanol in an acidic medium by means of cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry.
The PtCo/GR catalysts with an average Pt particle size of ca. 1–3 nm were synthesized from the reaction mixture containing H2PtCl6, CoCl2 and ethylene glycol. It should be noted that the electrocatalytic activity of PtCo/GR catalysts depends on the molar ratio of Pt:Co in the catalysts. It was found that the synthesized PtCo/GR catalysts with the Pt:Co molar ratios equal to 1:3 and 1:6 exhibited an enhanced electrocatalytic activity for methanol electro-oxidation as compared with that of catalysts with the Pt:Co molar ratios equal to 1:20, 1:50 and 1:60 and 1:0.