Fast and facile preparation of reduced graphene oxide supported Pt–Co electrocatalyst for methanol oxidation

Abstract In this study, we report a scalable, fast, and facile method for preparation of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) sheets supported Pt–Co electrocatalyst for methanol oxidation. Mixed reducing agents were used and the activity of the catalysts was studied. It was found that the presence of RGO leads to higher activity, which might be due to the increasing of electrochemically accessible surface areas and easier charge–transfer at the interfaces. Co can greatly enhance the electrocatalytic activity and moderate the poisoning of Pt catalyst. Under same Pt loading mass and experimental conditions, the RGO-Pt-Co catalyst shows the highest electro catalytic activity and improved resistance to carbon monoxide poisoning among the prepared catalysts.