Sains Malaysiana 46(4)(2017): 629–635

http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/jsm-2017-4604-16

Morphological Study of Synthesized RGO/ Pt Nanocomposites via Facile Chemical Reduction Method

(Kajian Morfologi Komposit Nano RGO/ Pt yang Disintesis melalui Kaedah Penurunan Kimia secara Mudah)

MOHAMAD FAHRUL RADZI HANIFAH¹, JUHANA JAAFAR¹*, MADZLAN AZIZ², MOHD HAFIZ DZARFAN OTHMAN², MUKHLIS A. RAHMAN¹, AHMAD FAUZI ISMAIL¹, CHIONG SIE JING¹, FARHANA AZIZ¹, W.N.W. SALLEH¹, N. YUSOF¹ & M.Z.A. THIRMIZIR³

¹Advanced Membrane Technology Research Centre (AMTEC), Faculty of Chemical and Energy Engineering (FCEE), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 UTM Skudai, Johor Darul Takzim

Malaysia

²Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

81310 UTM Skudai, Johor Darul Takzim, Malaysia

³Science and Engineering Research Centre, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Engineering Campus

14300 Nibong Tebal, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

Received: 12 December 2015/Accepted: 15 September 2016

ABSTRACT

Reduced graphene oxide nanosheet (RGO)/Pt nanocomposite have been successfully prepared through a facile chemical reduction method. The reduction of Pt precursor was carried out using sodium borohydride as the efficient chemical reductant. The morphology of RGO/Pt nanocomposite was investigated using high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). HRTEM analysis showed that platinum nanoparticles were homogenously distributed onto the surface of RGO. The electrochemical study proved that Pt nanoparticles were successfully incorporated onto RGO. Therefore, it can be concluded that the proposed method could provide well-dispersed of Pt nanoparticles onto RGO to form RGO/ Pt nanocomposite.

Keywords: Chemical reduction; electrochemical; morphology; reduced graphene oxide nanosheet; RGO/ Pt nanocomposite

ABSTRAK

Komposit nano RGO/Pt telah berjaya disediakan melalui kaedah penurunan kimia secara mudah. Penurunan bahan pemula Pt telah dijalankan dengan menggunakan natrium borohidrida sebagai bahan penurun kimia yang efisyen. Morfologi komposit nano RGO/Pt telah dikaji menggunakan HRTEM dan FESEM. Analisis HRTEM menunjukkan bahawa zarah nano platinum telah diagihkan secara sekata ke atas permukaan RGO. Kajian secara elektrokimia membuktikan bahawa zarah nano Pt telah berjaya diperbadankan ke atas RGO. Oleh itu, dapat disimpulkan bahawa kaedah yang dicadangkan ini boleh menyediakan penyebaran zarah nano Pt yang baik ke atas RGO untuk membentuk komposit nano RGO/Pt.

Kata kunci: Elektrokimia; kepingan grafena oksida yang diturunkan; komposit nano RGO/Pt; morfologi; penurunan kimia

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*Corresponding author; email: juhana@petroleum.utm.my