Advanced nanoelectrocatalyst for methanol oxidation and oxygen reduction reaction, fabricated as one-dimensional pt nanowires on nanostructured robust Ti0.7Ru0.3O2 support

Abstract

We present a simple and facile approach to tackling many current fuel cell issues by exploiting the direct growth of 1D Pt nanowires on nanostructured multifunctional Ti0.7Ru0.3O2 that exploit various advantages conferred by the multifunctional Ti0.7Ru0.3O2 support when synergistically combined with 1D Pt nanowires. The robust non-carbon Ti0.7Ru0.3O2 not only plays an important role as a co-catalyst but also shows extremely high stability in acidic and oxidative environments. Furthermore, the unique 1D anisotropic morphology of the Pt nanostructures can improve mass transport and the preferential exposure of certain crystal facets so promoting the catalytic activity of Pt NW/Ti0.7Ru0.3O2 for both ORR and the Methanol Oxidation Reaction (MOR). We also show that the oxygen reduction reaction current densities at the half-wave potential (∼0.9V), generated using co-catalytic Pt NW/Ti0.7Ru0.3O2 are, respectively, ∼2-fold higher than those of commercial Pt/C (JM) catalyst or Pt NW on carbon. Additionally, Pt NW/Ti0.7Ru0.3O2 exhibited excellent electrocatalytic activity and CO-tolerance toward MOR. For example, at 600mV the polarization current density of Pt NW/Ti0.7Ru0.3O2 was ∼5 times and 8 times greater than for the Pt NW/C and Pt/C (JM) catalysts. Thus, Pt NW/Ti0.7Ru0.3O2 is a novel functionalised co-catalytic support that shows utility as an advanced nanoelectrocatalyst for both of anode and cathode fuel cell applications. This powerful approach opens a reliable path to the discovery of advanced multifunctional nanoelectrocatalysts that can replace the traditional catalytic structures and motivate further research in the field.