Developing graphene based nanomaterials and improving their methanol oxidation performances with electrocatalysis effect

In this thesis, synthesized graphene oxide has been modified by using L-cystein binder, nanoparticles and core-shell bimetallic nanomaterials. Chemical and physical characterizations of modified nano-materials have been caried out by performing spectroscopic, microscopic and optical techniques. The resulting graphene oxide-based nano-materials, have been used as electrocatalysis material for electrochemical oxidation of methanol. The electrooxidation performance of each selected bimetallic nanoparticle and graphene oxide materials with core-shell nanoparticles have been determined separately by using cyclic voltammetry technique. Optimization processes have been performed in order to determine the maximum performance values for each of nanomaterials. The optimization processes including, reduction of geometric imperfections of graphene oxide nanoribbons, idealization of size and geometry of nanoparticles and bimetallic nanoparticles have been performed. The ideal conditions for nano-catalysis for the oxidation of methanol have been determined. Keywords: Cycling Voltammetry, Graphene Oxide, Methanol Oxidation, Nanocatalyst, Nanoparticle.