Facile synthesis of reduced graphene oxide supported PtAg nanoflowers and their enhanced electrocatalytic activity

•Uniform PtAg nanoflowers are well-distributed on reduced graphene oxide.•Ethylene glycol is used as a reducing agent because of its low toxic and benign to environment.•The one-pot solvothermal method is simple and facile, without using any seed.•The Pt–Ag nanoflowers have high electrochemically active surface area.•The as-prepared nanocomposites exhibit improved electrocatalytic activity and stability.

In this work, a simple and facile method is developed in the synthesis of well-dispersed PtAg nanoflowers on reduced graphene oxide nanosheets (PtAg/RGOs) under solvothermal conditions, using ethylene glycol as a reducing agent and hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as capping and stabilizing agents. The as-prepared nanocomposites show a superior electrocatalytic activity, good tolerance, and better stability toward the oxidation of formic acid and ethylene glycol in alkaline media, compared with the commercial Pt/C (10 wt%) catalyst. For the oxidation of formic acid, the PtAg nanoflowers own thirty times higher of the catalytic currents than those of the commercial Pt/C catalyst. Meanwhile, for the oxidation of ethylene glycol, the ratio of forward current (jF) to reverse current (jR) is high up to 8.4, which is almost four times higher than that of the commercial Pt/C catalyst. This strategy provides a promising platform for direct formic acid and ethylene glycol fuel cells.

Graphical abstractIn this work, a facile one-pot solvothermal method is developed in the synthesis of well-dispersed PtAg nanoflowers supported on reduced graphene oxide nanosheets (PtAg/RGOs) with the assistance of CTAB. The as-prepared composites display enhanced electrocatalytic activity and stability toward the oxidation of formic acid and ethylene glycol.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide