Anodic platinum dissolution, entrapping by amine functionalized-reduced graphene oxide: a simple approach to derive the uniform distribution of platinum nanoparticles with efficient electrocatalytic activity for durable hydrogen evolution and ethanol oxidation

It has been found that platinum is the most active catalyst for energy production and conversion. However, reaching the high durability beside the higher activity is a magnificent challenge. Here, we demonstrate a novel electrochemical approach to produce the uniformly platinum nanoparticles (Pt NPs) on amine functionalized-reduced graphene oxide (Pt/amino-rGO), via anodic platinum dissolution with improved electrocatalytic activity toward hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR). High stability and durability of Pt/amino-rGO for hydrogen generation and small poisoning effect of ethanol oxidation products are the crucial advantageous of this hybrid structure. Besides its higher stability, the prepared catalyst displays a 2.2 and 3.5-fold enhancement toward hydrogen generation and ethanol oxidation, respectively rather than Pt/C catalyst. Remarkably, it exhibits the increasing catalytic activity over time and displays the high ratio of forward to backward current (I-f/I-b = 3.3) for ethanol oxidation, which represents the catalyst poisoning resistance. This work opens a new perspective to modulate the surface and interface of carbon-based substrate by loading the metal NPs via a facile electrochemical process with growing activity for many possible applications. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.