Vertically aligned carbon-coated titanium dioxide nanorod arrays on carbon paper with low platinum for proton exchange membrane fuel cells

•Vertically aligned TiO2–C nanorod arrays were directly grown on carbon paper.•Pt–TiO2–C electrode without PTFE and Nafion.•Generating power 342.6 mW cm−2 with ultra low loading (28.67 μg cm−2).•Pt–TiO2–C electrode exhibited high stability.

Carbon-coated titanium dioxide (TiO2–C) has received much attention as a catalyst support in proton exchange membrane fuel cells. In this study, TiO2 nanorod arrays (NRs) are hydrothermally grown on carbon paper and converted into TiO2–C NRs by heat treatment at 900 °C under methane atmosphere. Then, platinum nanoparticles are sputtered onto the TiO2 NRs by physical vapor deposition to produce Pt–TiO2–C. The as-prepared Pt–TiO2–C exhibits high stability during accelerated durability tests. As compared with the commercial gas diffusion electrode (GDE, 34.4% decrease), a minor reduction in the electrochemically active surface area of the Pt–TiO2–C electrode after 1500 cycles (10.6% decrease) is observed. When the as-prepared electrode with ultra-low platinum content (Pt loading: 28.67 μg cm−2) is employed as the cathode of a single cell, the electrode generates power that is 4.84 × that of the commercial GDE (Pt loading: 400 μg cm−2). An electrode that generates power of 11.9 kW gPt−1 (as the cathode) is proposed. The fabricated Pt–TiO2–C electrode can be used in proton exchange membrane fuel cells.