One-step and rapid synthesis of reduced graphene oxide supported Pt nanodendrites by a microwave-assisted simultaneous reduction

• RGO supported near-spherical Pt NDs are prepared by a microwave method.
• The Pt NDs with many nanopores consist of 5–7 nm NPs.
• The synthesis only needs 10 min with the controllable morphology of Pt products.
• The Pt NDs on RGO ensure a high electro-catalytic activity and stability.

We report a rapid synthesis of Pt nanodendrites on reduced graphene oxide nanosheets via a polymer-free and microwave-assisted procedure in one step. The synthesis needs only 10 min, and the resulting Pt nanodendrites with a near-spherical morphology consist of 5–7 nm nanoparticles, and are well distributed on the reduced graphene oxide nanosheets. The diameter of nanodendrites is in a range of 40–120 nm with adjusting H2PtCl6 concentration. The formation mechanism is discussed based on an investigation of reaction parameters. Electro-catalytic properties are evaluated by formic acid electro-oxidation. The composites synthesized from the H2PtCl6 concentration of 3.1 mM have the highest electrochemically active surface area of 56.9 m2 g−1 with the largest If/Ir ratio of 0.97. The current density is 2.95 mA cm−2, which is higher than that of the reported Pt/graphene composites (2.39 mA cm−2).

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