Synthesis and characterization of highly dispersed Pt–TiO2|WC/BC as anode catalyst for methanol oxidation

•WC could enhance the electron transfer between the catalyst and support and accelerate the oxidation of residual carbon species.•TiO2 could absorb methanol and accelerate the breakage of O–H bond.•An enduring, versatile and renewable materials, bamboo charcoals, which have tremendous mesoporous str...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Electrochimica acta 2013-12, Vol.112, p.53-58
Main Authors: Song, Guang-Hui, Shi, Mei-Qin, Chu, You-Qun, Ma, Chun-An
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anodes
Carbon
Catalysts
Electro-catalysts
Methanol oxidation
Methyl alcohol
Oxidation
Platinum
Searching
TiO2
Titanium dioxide
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Summary:•WC could enhance the electron transfer between the catalyst and support and accelerate the oxidation of residual carbon species.•TiO2 could absorb methanol and accelerate the breakage of O–H bond.•An enduring, versatile and renewable materials, bamboo charcoals, which have tremendous mesoporous structure were used as the support. To search the active anode electrocatalyst in direct methanol fuel cells, bamboo charcoals (BC)—supported titanium oxide|tungsten carbide system (TiO2|WC/BC) was constructed with a well defined structure in a designed process. Platinum was homogeneously dispersed on TiO2|WC/BC with an average particle size of 3.75nm by microwave-assisted ethylene glycol process. The electro-catalytic performance of the catalyst Pt–TiO2|WC/BC toward methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) was studied by cyclic voltammetry (CV), chronoamperometry and CO stripping experiments. Results showed that the new electro-catalyst had a higher activity towards MOR compared with that of Pt–WC/BC and commercial Pt/C. The components in the complex were proved to play different roles in MOR where BC offered the larger surface areas and higher conductivity, the TiO2 could absorb methanol and accelerate the breakage of O–H bond, meanwhile WC may enhance the electron transfer between the catalyst and support and accelerate the oxidation of residual carbon species.
ISSN:0013-4686
1873-3859
DOI:10.1016/j.electacta.2013.08.139