Nitrogen-doped carbon-graphene composites enhance the electrocatalytic performance of the supported Pt catalysts for methanol oxidation

A novel nitrogen doped carbon-graphene support for a direct methanol fuel cell was synthesised via thermal decomposition of the graphene oxide-polypyrrole composite. The supported catalysts show considerable enhancement of activity and stability towards the methanol electro-oxidation reaction. Physical characterizations reveal that the enhanced performance was due to a uniform particle dispersion and modified electronic structure of platinum nanoparticles by the support