A facile preparation of novel Pt-decorated Ti electrode for methanol electro-oxidation by high-energy micro-arc cladding technique

In this paper, a novel Pt-decorated Ti electrode was prepared by a high-energy micro-arc cladding (HEMAC) technique for methanol electro-oxidation in alkaline media. The surface structure, morphology, composition and electrocatalytic properties were investigated by thin-film X-ray diffraction (TF-XRD), scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDX) and electrochemical measurements. The results show that the Ptarc-depTi surface mainly comprises Ti, Pt, Pt3Ti and PtTi3. Moreover, a coarsening topographical morphology can be obtained, being composed of numerous craters/spots with sizes ranging from nano-scales to several microns. The Ptarc-depTi alleviates the CO poisoning effect of methanol electro-oxidation with a higher ratio of the forward anodic peak current (If) to the reverse anodic peak current (Ib). The improvement in the catalytic performance should be attributed to that the surrounding Ti sites ameliorate the tolerance to CO adsorption on Pt islands. The Ptarc-depTi electrode reveals its superior electrocatalytic performance toward methanol oxidation and will find promising applications in fields of catalysis, fuel cells and so forth.

► Novel Pt/Ti electrode is prepared by high-energy micro-arc cladding technique.
► Pt/Ti electrode shows high catalytic activity and excellent anti-poisoning effect.
► Typical structural and chemical effects may be responsible for promising performance.