One-step hydrothermal synthesis of Pt and N-doped carbon quantum dots co-activated as novel electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction

Abstract In this paper, a novel nano-electrocatalyst (Pt@N-CDs/RGO) with reduced graphene oxide as the carrier and platinum (Pt) and nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots (N-CDs) together as the active sites was prepared by a simple hydrothermal method. By comparing the electrochemical properties of commercial platinum carbon (Pt/C) and Pt@N-CDs/RGO at 20% wt Pt, it was found that Pt@N-CDs/RGO exhibited excellent ORR properties, such as an onset potential ( E onest ) of 1.10 V, a half-wave potential (E 1/2 ) of 0.82 V, a limiting current density of 5.06 mA/cm 2 , and a number of transferred electrons as high as 3.97. By using the chronoamperometric method (CA) to cycle for 10000 s, it was found that the stability of both, Pt@N-CDs /RGO maintains 18% activity after a cycle of 10000 seconds, which is much higher than Pt/C. The study showcased a new efficient and durable catalyst for PEMFCs.