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A simple and cost-effective electrochemical method synthesized platinum nanoparticles on graphene nanosheet (PtNPs@GNS) is reported, and the Pt loading of the PtNPs@GNS can be controlled by electrodeposition. The structure and element analysis of the PtNPs@GNS have been investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman spectrum, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The electrochemical measurement including electrochemical active surface area, current density, mass activity, oxidation peak potential,shows the PtNPs@GNS have more performance electrocatalytic properties for methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) compared to Vulcan XC-72 carbon (XC-72) supported PtNPs electrocatalysts. Probably, the cause which may be attributes to no aggregation of PtNPs and the well-dispersion on surface of GNS, so PtNPs@GNS show large electrochemically active surface area, highly electrocatalytic activity and stability in direct methanol fuel cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the new electrocatalyst of platinum support on polypyrrole-functionalized graphene (GNS-PPy/PtNPs) is reported. The polypyrrole-functionalized graphene (GNS-PPy) is constructed first with graphene nanosheets (GNS) and polypyrrole (PPy) particles by constant potential deposition. And then PtNPs are deposited on the surface of GNS-PPy by cyclic voltammetry. The as-prepared GNS-PPy/PtNPs is characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. The prepared GNS-PPy/PtNPs catalyst is employed for methanol oxidation reactions. Compared with GNS/PtNPs and PPy/PtNPs, the GNS-PPy/PtNPs has higher catalytic activity (508 mA/mg), better stability, and stronger poisoning-tolerance ( I/ I = 4.18) due to high dispersion of PtNPs on large surface of GNS-PPy as well as synergic effect among the GNS, PPy particles, and PtNPs. The experimental results indicate that GNS-PPy/PtNPs may be an ideal candidate catalyst for direct methanol fuel cell. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, Fe-doped Co 3 O 4 nanofilms were fabricated by electrodeposition on FTO glass substrates for the first time. The structures of the as-prepared nanofilms were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Characterization results demonstrate that Fe was doped homogeneously in the nanofilms. As the different concentration ratios of Fe 2+ /Co 2+ were explored, nanofilm with the ratio of 1:5 exhibits the optimal performance in electrochemical properties assessments. It is considered that the difference in the catalytic activities for the ORR of the samples may be due to the fact that the joining of iron changed the catalyst surface's electric state and enhanced the acidity of cobalt centers, on the other hand, the doping process probably modified the absorption property of the nanofilms. The experimental results suggest that the Fe-doped Co 3 O 4 nanofilms in this work exhibit favorable electrocatalytic activity toward ORR and appear to be promising cathodic electrocatalyst in alkaline fuel cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A novel cholesterol biosensor was fabricated on hydrophobic ionic liquid (IL)/aqueous solution interface. The hydrophobic IL thin film played a signal amplification role because it not only enriched the cholesterol from the aqueous solution, but also immobilized matrix for cholesterol oxidase (ChOx). Prussian blue (PB) as advanced sensing materials was used as effective low-potential electron transfer mediation toward hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The fabricated IL-ChOx/PB/Glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was characterized by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and cyclic voltammogram (CV), respectively. And it exhibited a linear response to cholesterol in the range of 0.01–0.40mM with a detection limit of 4.4μM. In addition, the kinetics behavior of cholesterol at IL-Chox/PB/GCE electrode was examined, and the electrocatalytic mechanism was proposed as shown in first scheme. ChOx immobilized in hydrophobic IL thin film was used as the first electrocatalyst for the cholesterol into H2O2, and the PB film onto the GCE was used as the second electrocatalyst for the 2e− reduction of the produced H2O2 into H2O. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]