Scalable graphene foam with ultrahigh conductivity for stabilizing Pt towards efficient hydrogen evolution

For the carbon-based catalyst to be active and stable, especially in harsh electrochemical environments, the key is to decrease the concentration of defects and raise the degree of graphitization of the carbon support. Herein, we develop a highly graphitized graphene foam with multiplicated structure to fabricate self-supporting Pt-based catalysts for efficient and stable hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance. Graphene foam (GO-2850) is obtained through an ultra-high temperature treatment at 2850 °C, with perfect graphene structure and extremely low defect, ensuring high electrical conductivity and corrosion resistance. Additionally, its multiplicated structure provides an inherently favorable environment for the dispersion of Pt nanoparticles (Pt NPs) and offers abundant channels for electrolyte infiltration during the catalytic process. As a result, the as-prepared Pt/GO-2850 is far active and stable than the Pt NPs supported on commercial carbon paper (Pt/CP) counterpart toward catalyzing HER, exhibiting an outstanding activity and long-term durability (300 h @ 10 mA·cm−2) in acidic/alkaline/seawater electrolytes. This can be attributed to the stronger interaction between the lower-defect GO-2850 substrate and Pt, as evidenced by characterization and theoretical calculations. This work extends further insight into the design self-supporting catalysts of high activity and stability with promising prominent application toward green energy devices.