Preparation of Pt/(Ti3C2Tx)y-(MWCNTs)1-y electrocatalysts via a facile and scalable solvothermal strategy for high-efficiency methanol oxidation

Abstract

Although direct methanol fuel cells are promising as “green” power generators for portable electronics, their further development has been largely hampered by the low-efficiency of the commercial anode catalysts. In this study, (Ti3C2Tx)y-(MWCNTs)1-y (0 ≤ y ≤1) supported Pt nanoparticle electrocatalysts were fabricated by a facile and scalable solvothermal strategy, after which two-dimensional(2D) Ti3C2Tx nanosheets were found to be intercalated and connected by conductive one-dimensional(1D) MWCNTs. Used for methanol oxidation reaction, the Pt/(Ti3C2Tx)0.5-(MWCNTs)0.5 catalyst exhibited the maximum electrochemical active surface area (ECSA, 154 m2/g) and excellent electrochemical activity (812.9 mA/mg), higher than not only Pt/Ti3C2Tx and Pt/MWCNTs of this study, but also many other related catalysts reported in literature. In addition, the CO-poisoning behavior was also alleviated using Pt/(Ti3C2Tx)0.5-(MWCNTs)0.5 instead of Pt/Ti3C2Tx and Pt/MWCNTs. Such a superior performance can be attributed to the well dispersion of Pt nanoparticles (∼3.8 nm), enhanced layer distance of Ti3C2Tx to capture more Pt nanoparticles, and conductive action of MWCNTs to connect Ti3C2Tx. This study opens a new perspective for developing high performance supercapacitors using Pt catalysts supported by 1D-intercalated 2D materials.