Abstract
The development of efficient catalyst materials that can drive high catalytic performance is challenging. Here, we report a well-defined hollow mesoporous TiN nanostructure for use as Pt catalyst support material for methanol electro-oxidation. The hollow TiN nanostructure was synthesized by the ammonia nitridation of pre-synthesized mother hollow anatase TiO2, which was prepared by SiO2 template-assisted sol–gel synthesis followed by chemical etching, acid treatment, and sequential calcination. The variation in the ammonia nitridation temperature allowed the crystalline properties of the samples to be finely tuned. As the ammonia nitrification temperature increased, the crystallinity of the resulting hollow TiN continuously increased, and the corresponding Pt catalysts showed enhanced activity toward methanol electro-oxidation. The hollow TiN-800 sample (H-TiN-800), with a well-developed pure TiN phase, exhibited the highest electrical conductivity and the lowest resistance. The corresponding Pt/H-TiN-800 catalyst exhibited significantly enhanced catalytic activity. In this study, we systemically analyzed the physicochemical characteristics and electrochemical performance of hollow TiN samples and their corresponding Pt catalysts.
Highlights
The energy crisis is becoming one of the biggest issues faced by society, directly impacting human life currently and in the near future
It is well known that a methanol electro-oxidation occurs in the anode and that an oxygen reaction occurs in the cathode in direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) systems as follows [10]: iations
We evaluated the catalytic activity of the prepared Pt catalysts by comparing the maximum peak currents during the anodic scan
Summary
The energy crisis is becoming one of the biggest issues faced by society, directly impacting human life currently and in the near future. Fuel cell technology has great potential as a future power source for a wide variety of energy applications including electric vehicles and mobile electronics [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Among the different types of fuel cells, direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) are possible alternative power sources for portable electronic devices, mobile drones, and robots [7,8,9]. It is well known that a methanol electro-oxidation occurs in the anode and that an oxygen reaction occurs in the cathode in DMFC systems as follows [10]: iations.
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