Synthesis Of Graphene-based Nanocomposites And Study Of Their Catalytic Performance

Very recently, graphene, a two dimensional monolayer carbonmaterial, is quickly becoming a highly promising material owing to itswide variety of properties, such as large surface area, excellent electricalconductivity, good mechanical flexibility. Graphene and its derivativesare being studied in nearly every field of science and engineering.However, there are some drawbacks we can’t overlook, such as itsnonrigidity and its inclination to self-aggregate. So a great deal of effortshave been put to the study of graphene-based materials, by doing this,graphene’s merits are strengthened and its drawbacks are overcome. Inthis thesis, we have studied the interaction of graphene and metal oxides,including the fabrication of G/MO, MO/rGO/Pt hybrids as well as theirpotential applications in the electrocatalysis and photocatalysis. Thecombination of rGO and MO takes advantages of the rigidity of the metaloxides to prevent the self-aggregation, meanwhile the excellent electricconductivity of rGO helps with the electron transfer within the hybrids.Fe₂O₃, CeO₂are chosen as typical examples to illustrate the idea wedesign.In the first part of my work, the G/Fe₂O₃structure was successfullyfabricated. Firstly, Fe₂O₃nanoparticles, graphene oxide were fabricated.Then Fe₂O₃nanoparticles were modified by APS. Finally the modifiedFe₂O₃nanoparticles and graphene oxide are combined due to theelectrostatic force. The obtained material then was used in thephotodegradtion of Rhb and it exhbits the best degrading performancecompared with bare GO, bare Fe₂O₃and no catalyst. In the G/Fe₂O₃structure, G gains some rigidity by incorporating Fe₂O₃nanoparticles toexhibit better electrical conductivity, so that this hybrid stands out in the degradation of Rhb.In the second part of my work, the CeO₂/rGO/Pt sandwichnanostructure is successfully fabricated through a facile hydrothermalapproach in the presence of graphene oxide and CeO₂nanoparticles. Thisstructure has a unique building architecture where rGO wraps up theCeO₂nanoparticles and Pt nanoparticles are homogeneously dispersed onthe surface of rGO. This novel structure endows this material with greatelectrocatalytic performance in methanol oxidation compared withPt/rGO, CeO₂/Pt and Pt/C catalysts. In the CeO₂/rGO/Pt stucture, thelayer of rGO fixed in between helps with the electron transfer within thehybrids. So this hybrid exhibits the best catalytic performance.