One-pot synthesis of monodisperse palladium–copper nanocrystals supported on reduced graphene oxide nanosheets with improved catalytic activity and methanol tolerance for oxygen reduction reaction

Monodisperse bimetallic alloyed palladium–copper nanocrystals are uniformly supported on reduced graphene oxide nanosheets by a one-pot solvothermal strategy, with an average size of 6.81 nm. As a result, the as-prepared nanocomposites have the enlarged electrochemically active surface area (49.2 m 2  g −1 ), and display the improved electrocatalytic performance and high methanol-tolerance ability for oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline media , compared with commercial Pd black and RGOs. Those RGOs-supporting Pd–Cu alloys would have potential applications in fuel cells.