Role of surfactant-mediated electrodeposited titanium oxide substrate in improving electrocatalytic features of supported platinum particles

A new hybrid system with improved photocatalytic and electrocatalytic performances was obtained by two-step potentiostatic deposition on highly boron-doped diamond (BDD) substrate. First, hydrated TiO2 was anodically deposited from a TiCl3 aqueous solution, both in the presence and in the absence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). The study of the UV irradiation effect evidenced that titanium oxide coatings obtained by surfactant-assisted electrodeposition (TiO2:SDS) exhibit enhanced photocurrent, due to its very rough texture and presumably to better efficiency of charge carrier separation. Electrochemical deposition of platinum on the oxide-coated BDD was carried out in a second step and AFM, SEM and XPS measurements have shown that, on the TiO2:SDS substrate, Pt particles are smaller, more uniformly distributed, and tend to form clusters, leading to a specific surface area of the electrocatalyst of ca. 6.55 m2 g−1. Carbon monoxide stripping experiments demonstrated that, when deposited on TiO2:SDS, Pt particles are also less sensitive to CO-poisoning during methanol anodic oxidation.