Synergistic interaction of graphene-amorphous carbon nanohybrid with thin metal loading for enhanced polymer electrolyte fuel cell performance and durability

•A versatile chemical route is used to synthesize graphene-carbon nanohybrid.•Introducing optimum amount of graphene is beneficial to improve PEFC activity.•CG 2 supported Pt matrix exhibits superior stability compared to Pt/C. In this communication, a synergistic interaction of the graphene- amorphous carbon (CG) nanohybrid support framework is configured, leading to excellent activity and stability in polymer electrolyte fuel cells. Graphene-amorphous carbon nanohybrid-Pt matrix is synthesized by a versatile chemical method. The optimum composition of CG nanohybrid with thin Pt loading of 50 μg cm−2 shows excellent catalytic activity. Besides, synergistic interaction between graphene and amorphous carbon nanohybrid results in enhanced stability of Pt and retains about 50% initial performance even after 5000 cycles.