Shape-controlled synthesis of Pt nanoparticles via integration of graphene and β-cyclodextrin and using as a noval electrocatalyst for methanol oxidation

The integration of graphene nanosheets (GNs) and beta-cyclodextrin (CD) may bring about large surface area and high conductivity of GNs and unique supramolecular recognition capability of CD together. In this paper, for the first time, GNs-CD was used as a supporting material to construct nanodendritic hydrangea-like Pt nanoparticles, which was implemented by a facile wet chemical procedure. beta-CD on GNs surface was used to regulate the final morphology of Pt nanoparticles without additional capping agent and seeds, and GNs functioned as a matrix to obtain a relatively uniform distribution of Pt nano-clusters. Electrocatalytic performance of the as-prepared Pt/GNs-CD hybrid was investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV), chronoamperometry, COad stripping voltammetry, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The Pt/GNs-CD hybrid exhibited much higher catalytic activity and stability than Pt/GNs and Pt/Vulcan X72R towards methanol oxidation, suggesting that Pt/GNs-CD hybrid could be a promising electrocatalyst for high-performance direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) applications. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.