A novel support for platinum electrocatalyst based on mesoporous carbon embedded with bimetallic SnTi oxide as a bifunctional electrocatalyst

Abstract

We report a Pt electrocatalyst based on the mesoporous carbon embedded with the SnTi bemetallic oxides (denoted by PtNPs/SnOx/TiO2/mC), SnOx and TiO2 nanocrystals, as an efficiently bifunctional catalyst toward the electro-oxidiation of methanol and oxygen reaction in alkaline solution. Herein, the as-obtained SnOx/TiO2/mC nanohybrids were derived from the inorganic-organic hybrid nanostructure composed of SnO2, TiO2 and bovine serum albumin (BSA), following by the calcination at different temperatures. Subsequently, the SnOx/TiO2/mC nanohybrids were employed as the support for Pt nanoparticles (Pt NPs). Due to high catalytic capacity of Pt NPs, good electrochemical properties and mesoporous structure of the SnOx/TiO2/mC nanohybrid, the fabricated nanocomposites were explored as the highly efficient electrocatalyst toward the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Comparing with different PtNPs/SnOx/TiO2/mC nanocomposites, the optimal electrocatalyst obtained at 700 °C (PtNPs/SnOx/TiO2/mC700) displayed superior catalytic performances for MOR and ORR because of the large loading and uniform distribution of Pt NPs. This superb electrocatalytic activity makes PtNPs/SnOx/TiO2/mC a promising electrocatalyst for the construction of an efficient fuel cell.