To prepare the atomically-thin films, the researchers used a process called electrochemical atomic layer deposition to grow platinum monolayers on a layer of graphene, creating samples that had one, two or three atomic layers of atoms. The researchers then tested the samples for dissociation energy and compared the results to the energy of a single atom of platinum on graphene as well as the energy from a common configurations of platinum nanoparticles used in catalysts.

"The fundamental question at the heart of this work was whether it was possible that a combination of metallic and covalent bonding can render the platinum atoms in a platinum-graphene combination more stable than their counterparts in bulk platinum used commonly in catalysts that are supported by metallic bonding," said Seung Soon Jang, an associate professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering.

The researchers found that the bond between neighboring platinum atoms in the film essentially combines forces with the bond between the film and the graphene layer to provide reinforcement across the system. That was especially true in the platinum film that was two atoms thick.

"Typically metallic films below a certain thickness are not stable because the bonds between them are not directional, and they tend to roll over each other and conglomerate to form a particle," Alamgir said. "But that's not true with graphene, which is stable in a two-dimensional form, even one atom thick, because it has very strong covalent directional bonds between its neighboring atoms. So this new catalytic system could leverage the directional bonding of the graphene to support an atomically-thin film of platinum."

Future research will involve further testing of how the films behave in a catalytic environment. The researchers found in earlier research on graphene-platinum films that the material behaves similarly in catalytic reactions regardless of which side -- graphene or platinum -- is the exposed active surface.

"In this configuration, the graphene is not acting as a separate entity from the platinum," Alamgir said. "They're working together as one. So we believe that if you're exposing the graphene side, you get the same catalytic activity and you could further protect the platinum, potentially further enhancing durability."