Platinum decorated mesoporous titanium cobalt nitride nanorods catalyst with promising activity and CO-tolerance for methanol oxidation reaction

In this study, mesoporous titanium cobalt nitride nanorods (Ti0.9Co0.1N NRs) hybrid as non-carbon platinum supports is successfully prepared by a solvothermal process and subsequent nitridation process. The highly porous materials can provide abundant binding sites for growing well-dispersed Pt. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results indicate that the cobalt element doping promoted the interaction of platinum and support. Notable, the peak current density of Pt/Ti0.9Co0.1N NRs catalyst is 0.85 A mgpt−1, which 3.4-fold of Pt/C catalyst. What's more, the onset potential (0.34 V) of CO oxidation on Pt/Ti0.9Co0.1N NRs is lower than on the Pt/C (0.47 V) and Pt/TiN NRs (0.37 V). The results confirmed the mesoporous Pt/Ti0.9Co0.1N NRs catalyst unfolds a much enhanced catalytic activity and CO tolerance for methanol oxidation. The exceptional electrocatalytic properties are achieved for the Pt/Ti0.9Co0.1N NRs catalysts due to its unique porous structure and the electronic effect of robust Ti0.9Co0.1N NRs introduced by the cobalt element doping.