In this paper, a facile electrochemical approach is developed towards synthesizing Pt nanoflowers modified reduced graphene oxide (RGO) wrapped carbon cloth (CC) as an anode (Pt nanoflowers/RGO/CCE) for formic acid and methanol electrooxidation. As revealed by SEM measurements, the carbon cloth is well wrapped by the RGO, and the RGO wrapped carbon cloth serves as an excellent support for electrochemically anchoring Pt nanoflowers, being more well-dispersed than without RGO. Compared with Pt nanoparticles/CCE, Pt nanoparticles/RGO/CCE, and Pt nanoflowers/CCE, the Pt nanoflowers/RGO/CCE displays a distinctly enhanced current density of CVs towards formic acid and methanol electrooxidation. The utilization of graphene results in well-dispersed Pt nanostructures with a uniform size and unique morphology structure; a relatively large surface area; and excellent electron or charge transfer rate, contributing to the enhanced electrocatalytic activity. The work likely opens up new promise for developing novel, low-cost yet highly efficient carbon material-based electrodes, especially for direct formic acid fuel cells and direct methanol fuel cells.

Exfoliated ultrathin C ₃ N ₄ nanosheets decorated with NiS as a highly efficient visible-light-driven photocatalyst for photoinduced hydrogen evolution.

In this paper, we report the synthesis, characterization, and photocatalysis of a novel composite, composed of high-ordered mesoporous WO₃ (m-WO₃) and reduced graphene oxide (RGO). The composite was systematically characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, N₂ adsorption–desorption and UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy techniques. The superior contact between two moieties in the composites facilitates the charge carrier separation and the evolution of oxygen. Under visible light irradiation, the amount of oxygen evolution from the optimized photocatalyst containing ca. 6 wt% RGO reached 437.3 μmol g⁻¹, which was 5.1 times as high as that from m-WO₃. The enhancement of photocatalytic activity could be ascribed to the fact that RGO acts herein as a solid-state electron mediator, promoting the charge transportation and separation, as well as suppressing the electron–hole recombination in the composite. This study might provide a prototype for constructing a novel photocatalytic system by hybridizing graphene with a mesoporous semiconductor for solar energy conversion.