Conductive Metal Oxide-Based Fuel Cell Catalyst Supports Prepared by Doping TiO2 with Si: Understanding the Role of Si Content

Abstract

We report the synthesis of a Ti3O5-Si (TOS) conductive metal oxide fuel cell catalyst support. TOS is prepared by doping TiO2 with Si, endowing the resultant material with enhanced electronic conductivity and durability. Support with various amounts of dopant were prepared and a 15-20 wt% Si was determined to be optimal. Intensive electrochemical durability testing shows that the TOS supports are highly stable making them highly suitable for use as a fuel cell catalyst support.