A novel Pt/pyridine ionic liquid polyoxometalate/rGO tri-component hybrid and its enhanced activities for methanol electrooxidation.

Abstract A novel tri-component hybrid, Pt/pyridine ionic liquid polyoxometalate/reduced graphene oxide denoted as Pt/(epy) 3 PMo 12 O 40 /rGO with well-dispersed, smaller size Pt nanoparticles on rGO is successfully synthesized. The morphology, structure, composition and electrochemical property are characterized by high resolution transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, energy dispersive spectrometer, Raman spectra, thermogravimetric analysis and cyclic voltammetry, respectively. Ionic liquid polyoxometalate (epy) 3 PMo 12 O 40 availably prevents the aggregations of Pt nanoparticles on the rGO surface, furthermore, effectively improves anti CO poisoning performance and enhances the conductivity of the material. The mass activity of as-prepared Pt/(epy) 3 PMo 12 O 40 /rGO catalyst for methanol oxidation is about 10 times of 20% commercial platinum carbon, 7 times of Pt/rGO, 4 times of Pt/epyBr/rGO, and 2 times of Pt/H 3 PMo 12 O 40 /rGO. This further demonstrates that the ionic liquid polyoxometalate (epy) 3 PMo 12 O 40 play a very important role in enhancing the eletrocatalytic activity of the tri-component hybrid composite catalyst. Graphical abstract Image Highlights • A novel Pt/(epy) 3 PMo 12 O 40 /rGO tri-component hybrid is fabricated. • The Pt/(epy) 3 PMo 12 /rGO exhibits enhanced methanol electrooxidation activity. • The Pt/(epy) 3 PMo 12 /rGO catalyst has the outstanding anti CO poisoning performance. • It is worth looking forward to using such an excellent catalyst in anode catalysts of DMFC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]