Preparation of Co/N-CNT@poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)–NH2/Pt as an efficient catalyst for ethanol oxidation reaction

• The Co/N-CNT@PEDOT-NH 2 composite has been synthesized in ionic liquid. • Abundant functional groups can promote the uniform dispersion of Pt NPs. • The Co/N-CNT@PEDOT-NH 2 /Pt could deliver excellent electrocatalytic performance in EOR. • The synergistic effect of Pt, Co/N-CNT and PEDOT-NH 2 is studied. Direct ethanol fuel cell (DEFC) is one of the most advanced technologies for energy applications. A new Pt-based electrocatalyst for DEFC is developed through reasonable strategies to assist the commercialization of ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR). We obtain the composite material (Co/N-CNT@PEDOT-NH 2 ) formed by Co, N co-doped carbon nanotubes (Co/N-CNT) and functional group (–NH 2 ) grafted poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT-NH 2 ) in ionic liquid (IL) by in-situ oxidation method as the catalyst support of Pt nanoparticles (Pt NPs). It is worth noting that the obtained composite material is entangled with each other to form a network structure with the help of IL, so that Pt NPs is uniformly loaded on the surface of the composite to promote the electron transmission. Meanwhile, the unique structure can form π-π* conjugation and hydrogen bonding, and help to anchor Pt NPs. The characteristics of the composite are measured by structure characterization (TEM, SEM, FT-IR, Raman, XRD, XPS) and a series of electrochemical tests. The results show that the mass activity (MA) of Co/N-CNT@PEDOT-NH 2 /Pt (1669.1 mA mg −1 Pt ) and Co/N-CNT/Pt (732.7 mA mg −1 Pt ) are higher than commercial Pt/C (279.6 mA mg −1 Pt ), indicating that Co/N-CNT@PEDOT-NH 2 /Pt is a promising EOR electrocatalyst.