Nanosized Pt anchored onto 3D nitrogen-doped graphene nanoribbons towards efficient methanol electrooxidation

The design and construction of nanostructured electrode catalysts with high activity at low cost are crucial elements in fuel cell technologies. Here, we demonstrate a combined hydrothermal self-assembly, freeze-drying, and thermal annealing approach for the fabrication of a hybrid catalyst made from nanosized Pt particles and three-dimensional (3D) nitrogen-doped graphene nanoribbons (N-GNRs). The resulting 3D architecture possesses a large surface area, interconnected porous networks, uniform nitrogen distribution, extremely small sizes of PtNPs and good electrical conductivity, which are highly desirable for electrocatalysis of the methanol oxidation reaction. As a consequence, remarkable electrocatalytic properties including exceptional electrocatalytic activity, strong poison tolerance as well as superior long-term stability are achieved for the Pt/N-GNR architecture, all of which outperform those observed for Pt/Vulcan XC-72 (Pt/C), Pt/carbon nanotube (Pt/CNT) and Pt/undoped GNR (Pt/GNR) catalysts.