Enhanced photo-electrocatalytic performance of Pt/RGO/TiO2 on carbon fiber towards methanol oxidation in alkaline media

In the present work, a novel electrode composed of TiO2, reduced graphene oxide (RGO) and Pt nanoparticles on carbon fiber (CF), denoted as Pt/RGO/TiO2/CF, has been fabricated successfully and employed as a photo-electrocatalyst for methanol oxidation in alkaline media. The spherical TiO2 nanoparticles are loaded on CF surface by an in situ method and wrapped by the gauze-like RGO. Meanwhile, the RGO effectively extends the absorption edge to visible light region based on the UV-vis diffuse reflectance absorption spectra (DRS) and promotes the good dispersion of Pt nanoparticles electro-deposited on the surface of RGO-wrapped TiO2. The as-prepared Pt/RGO/TiO2/CF electrode shows enhanced electrocatalytic activity and stability compared with Pt/TiO2/CF and Pt/CF electrodes both with and without light irradiation. The RGO plays an important role for the enhancement of electrocatalytic and photo-electrocatalytic performance. Moreover, Pt/RGO/TiO2/CF presents a higher photo-electrocatalytic activity for methanol oxidation with light irradiation than that without light irradiation due to the synergistic effect among them.