Highly efficient palladium nanoparticles decorated reduced graphene oxide sheets supported on nickel foam for hydrogen peroxide electroreduction

A current collector of reduced graphene oxide modified Ni foam (RN) is synthesized through a handy method of hydrothermal. The sheet-like reduced graphene oxide (rGO) wrapped around the skeleton of Ni foam establishes a unique structure of the current collector with large surface area as well as good electronic conductivity which make a positive effect on the promotion of electrochemical property. Pd is chosen as the catalyst and deposited on the RN substrate in a form of nanoparticle by potentiostatic electro-deposition. Characterization analysis including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and inductive coupled plasma emis- sion spectrometer (ICP) are conducted to investigate the morphology and structure of the final electrode of Pd nanoparticles decorated rGO supported on Ni foam (PRN). In 2 mol L-1 NaOH and 0.5 mol L-1 H2O2, a current density of 450 mA cm(-2) is gained on the PRN electrode which is much larger than that on the electrode of Pd nanoparticles directly deposited on Ni foam (PN). An excellent stability of the PRN electrode is also concluded by the measurements revealing that this material can be potentially and widely applied to direct hydrogen peroxide fuel cell in the near future. (C) 2017 Published by Elsevier B.V.