Design of Highly Uniform Platinum and Palladium Nanoparticle Decoration on TiO2 Nanotube Arrays: An Efficient Anode to the Electro-Oxidation of Alcohols

Abstract

We explore electro-catalytic properties of a system consisting of platinum and palladium nanoparticles dispersed over a nanotubular self-organized TiO2 matrix. These electrodes prepared by electroess and microemulsion of palladium and palladium nanoparticles on to TiO2 nanotubes, respectively. Titanium oxide nanotubes were fabricated by anodizing titanium foil in ethylene glycol (EG) fluoride-containing electrolyte. The morphology and surface characteristics of Pd-TiO2/Ti and Pt-TiO2/Ti electrodes were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), respectively. The results indicated that platinum and palladium nanoparticles were homogeneously deposited on the surface of TiO2 nanotubes. The nanotubular TiO2 layers consist of individual tubes of 70-90 nm diameters. This nanotubular TiO2 support provides a high surface area and it significantly enhances the electro-catalytic activity of Pd-TiO2/Ti and Pt-TiO2/Ti electrodes for alcohols oxidation. The electro-catalytic activity of Pd- TiO2/Ti and Pt-TiO2/Ti electrodes in the alcohols electro-oxidation was studied by electrochemical methods. The results indicate that Pd-TiO2/Ti and Pt-TiO2/Ti electrodes improve the electro-catalytic activity for alcohols oxidation greatly and confirmed the better electro-catalytic activity and stability of these new electrodes. So, the Pd-TiO2/Ti and Pt-TiO2/Ti electrodes have a good application potential to fuel cells.