TiO2 nanoparticles promoted Pt/C catalyst for ethanol electro-oxidation

A simple and efficient method to enhance the activity of Pt/C catalysts for direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFCs) by ultrasonically mixing commercial Pt/C catalyst and TiO2 nanoparticles is reported. In this novel composite anode catalyst, the as-prepared TiO2 nanoparticles are dispersed homogeneously in the interspaces of Pt based C nanoparticles, resulting in a great deal of TiO2-Pt-C interfaces, which greatly accelerate the ethanol electro-oxidation reaction. Cyclic voltammetry (CV), CO stripping, chronoamperometry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements confirm that this composite catalyst structure has excellent activity and stability toward ethanol and CO electro-oxidation compared to the pure Pt/C catalyst. Particle size and content of TiO2 are also discussed with respect to effect on catalyst performance.

► Pt/C + TiO2 composite catalyst is obtained by ultrasonically mixing commercial Pt/C catalyst and TiO2 nanoparticles.
► This composite catalyst has excellent activity toward ethanol electro-oxidation.
► A peak current improvement of more than 50% for the ethanol electro-oxidation is obtained.
► Both the TiO2 particle size and content can impact performances of the composite catalyst and the optimum are about 10 nm in size and 20% in weight.