Pd nanoparticles anchored on carbon-doped TiO2 nanocoating support for ethanol electrooxidation in alkaline media

• Pd particles are well dispersed on TiO2-C support.
• Strong metal-support interactions exist between Pd particles and TiO2-C support.
• Pd/TiO2-C catalyst exhibits enhanced catalytic performance for ethanol oxidation.

Carbon-doped TiO2 nanocoating (TiO2-C) on carbon black (CB) was prepared and employed as the support of Pd catalyst for ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR) in alkaline media. The obtained catalyst was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and electrochemical measurements. TEM characterization shows that TiO2 nanocoating is formed uniformly on CB and still preserves its structure with no apparent sintering after carbon doping, and Pd particles are well dispersed on the conductive TiO2-C support. XRD characterization shows that TiO2-C presents an anatase structure. XPS characterization shows that oxygen vacancy defects resulting from carbon doping present in TiO2-C. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronoamperometry (CA) results demonstrate that the as-prepared Pd/TiO2-C catalyst exhibits much enhanced catalytic activity and stability for EOR in alkaline media than Pd/C catalyst. The enhanced activity presented by the Pd/TiO2-C catalyst may result from the strong interactions between TiO2 and Pd, the facilitated oxidation removal of CH3COads intermediate, and the facilitated transportation of ethanol to Pd active sites.

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