Fabrication of TiO2/ZnO/Pt nanocomposite electrode with enhanced electrocatalytic activity for methanol oxidation

Platinum decorated heterogeneous catalysts for methanol oxidation reaction have crucial importance for the commercial sustainability of Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (DMFC). In this study, TiO2/ZnO/Pt nanocomposite film was fabricated as a promising electrocatalytic surface to enhance methanol oxidation in alkaline medium. Firstly, an TiO2/ZnO layer was prepared via DC sputtering followed by electrodeposition techniques on FTO electrode and then platinum nanoparticles were decorated onto the obtained nanocomposite film for the first time. The characterization of the developed transparent films was performed by using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), cycling voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The XRD, FESEM and XPS results showed that metallic Pt nanoparticles were uniformly distributed onto the TiO2/ZnO film consisting of anatase TiO2 and wurtzite ZnO layers with a thickness of ca. 370 and 320 nm, respectively. Five cycles of deposition of ZnO and Pt nanoparticles showed best catalytic activity after optimization. The oxidation peak of 0.5 M methanol at TiO2/ZnO/Pt was located at −0.17 V and the corresponding peak current increased about 10- and 5-fold in comparison to FTO/Pt and FTO/TiO2/Pt electrodes, respectively.