Support Material Effect for Pt Catalytic Activity at Cathode
Rikson Siburian *
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University Of Nusa Cendana, Kupang, East of Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The graphene nano sheets (GNS) and nitrogen doped graphene (N-G) were used as supporting materials to deposit Pt particles in order to investigate the support material effect for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity. The ORR activity of platinum on GNS (Pt/GNS) is higher than Pt/N-G catalysts. This suggests that the modification of π states by the N-doping change the properties of the interaction between Pt and carbon. The interaction between Pt and graphene is considered to be π–d hybridization. Therefore, one can control the electronic structure of graphene and Pt by doping of some elements. In addition, the large surface area of N-G due to it has more sites on which the oxygen binding is very strong. It causes the ORR catalytic activity of N-G is lower than GNS.
Keywords: GNS, N-G, ORR, Pt/GNS