Well-dispersed Pt nanoparticles on borane-modified graphene oxide and their electrocatalytic performance for oxygen reduction reaction

The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), which progresses at the cathode during redox reactions, is essential in fuel cells and metal-air batteries, and requires effective electrocatalysts to overcome the high activation energy. Pt/C catalysts have shown the best catalytic activity because of the superior catalytic ability of Pt particles. However, it is still a challenge to develop efficient ORR catalysts containing Pt using solution processes at low temperatures. In this work, we report a new route for producing hybrids containing well-dispersed Pt nanoparticles with uniform size distribution on the surface of borane-reduced graphene oxide (BG) using a low-temperature solution process and their excellent electrocatalytic performances for ORR in basic media. The hybrids are produced by reaction between H ₂ PtCl ₆ ·6H ₂ O and BG using a solution process. The Pt particles have uniform size-distribution with lateral dimensions of 10–15 nm and are well-dispersed on the surface of BG without agglomeration. The hybrids show excellent electrocatalytic activity, with onset and half-wave potentials of 0.99 and 0.84 V, respectively, which are comparable to those of Pt/C and previously reported Pt-based catalysts. The hybrids also exhibit excellent four-electron selectivity and superior kinetics.