Carbon riveted Pt-MnO2/reduced graphene oxide anode catalyst for DMFC

Low activity and poor stability of catalyst has been the issue for the commercialization of DMFC. We introduced MnO2 as co-catalyst and used graphene as support for Pt nanoparticles. In situ carbonization using l-ascorbic acid as carbon source was further employed to boost the performance of the catalyst, where the carbon riveted Pt-MnO2/reduced graphene oxide prepared (PMGL) not only showed larger electrochemical surface area and better catalytic activity towards methanol oxidation, but also revealed stronger ability to resist CO poisoning and better stability than Pt-MnO2/rGO and Pt/rGO catalysts. The improvement of catalyst performance can be attributed to synergistic effects developed between MnO2 and Pt and the anchoring effect of l-ascorbic acid, as suggested by HR-TEM/EDX and XPS characterization studies.