One-pot hydrothermal synthesis of Pt–TiO2–Carbon as a highly active and stable electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction

Abstract

Energy conversion from chemical to electrical energy through electrochemical processes using fuel cells is a promising advanced technology to address global environmental issues. However, the development of cathode materials for proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) still faces challenges due to their practical requirements for activity and stability. Introducing oxides into the electrocatalysts is an important way to improve performance. Here, we propose a one-pot hydrothermal synthesis to load Pt and TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) onto the treated carbon (TC). Through the TiO2 reconciliation between the Pt NPs and the carbon support, the tightly bound Pt–TiO2–TC electrocatalyst shows excellent activity and stability in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) due to the strong electronic interaction. At 0.9 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode, the Pt–TiO2–TC electrocatalyst has about twice the specific activity (SA) and mass activity (MA) of commercial Pt/C. Moreover, the decline of Pt- SA and MA in Pt–TiO2-TC after the accelerated durability test (ADT) was 4.2% and 12.3%, respectively. Therefore, we strongly recommend hybrid metal-oxide-carbon materials with high conductivity, electronic interaction, and carbon corrosion resistance as support materials for Pt NPs to develop Pt-based electrocatalysts for fuel cell applications.