Electrochemical Performance of Pt/NC and Pt/rGO for Methanol Oxidation in Acid Media

In the present work, Pt/NC and Pt/rGO electrocatalysts have been synthesized by means of the incipient wet impregnation method using citric acid and Ar-H2 as reducing static atmosphere, in order to perform a comparative analysis of their electrocatalytic activities with the commercial catalyst Pt/C in methanol oxidation in acid medium. GO and NC were synthesized by the both modified Hummers and nanocasting method respectively. The synthesized materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction of energy dispersive, scanning electron microscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy and cyclic voltammetry. The order of performance of the electrocatalysts in methanol oxidation was as follows: Pt/NC (355 mA/mgPt) > Pt/rGO (332 mA/mgPt) > Pt/C (182 mA/mgPt). The difference between the electrocatalytic activities of Pt/NC and Pt/rGO with respect to the performance of Pt/C is attributed to the ordered nanostructure of GO and NC that facilitate the transfer of electrons from the electrolyte to the working electrode.