Monodisperse Pt Nanoparticles Assembled on Reduced Graphene Oxide: Highly Efficient and Reusable Catalyst for Methanol Oxidation and Dehydrocoupling of Dimethylamine-Borane (DMAB).

Herein, monodisperse platinum (0) nanocatalyst assembled on reduced graphene oxide (Pt(0)@RGO) was easily and reproducibly prepared by the double solvent reduction method at room temperature. Pt(0)@RGO was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron microscopy (XPS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurements that verify the formation of monodisperse Pt (0) nanoparticles on RGO. The catalytic and electrocatalytic performances of Pt(0) @ RGO in terms of activity, isolability and reusability were investigated for both methanol oxidation and the dehydrocoupling of dimethylamine-borane (DMAB) in which Pt(0)@RGO was found to be highly active and reusable heterogeneous catalyst even at room temperature. The prepared nanoparticles can also electrocatalyze methanol oxidation with very high electrochemical activities (5.64 A/cm2 at 0.58 V for methanol). The activation energy (Ea), activation enthalpy (ΔH#), and activation entropy (ΔS#) for DMAB dehydrogenation were calculated to be 59.33 kJ mol(-1), 56.79 kJ mol(-1) and -151.68 J mol(-1) K(-1), respectively. The exceptional stability of new Pt(0) @ RGO nanoparticles towards agglomeration, leaching and CO poisoning allow these particles to be recycled and reused in the catalysis of DMAB dehydrogenation and methanol oxidation. After four subsequent reaction and recovery cycles, Pt(0) @ RGO retained ≥ 75% activity towards the complete dehydrogenation of DMAB.