Synthesis of TiO₂ composited nitrogen-doped carbon supports for high-performance methanol oxidation activity

Carbon supports for dispersed platinum (Pt) electrocatalysts in direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) are being continuously developed to improve electrochemical performance and catalyst stability. However, carbon supports still require solutions to reduce costs and improve catalyst efficiency. In this study, we prepare well-dispersed Pt electrocatalysts by introducing titanium dioxide (TiO₂) into biomass based nitrogen-doped carbon supports. In order to obtain optimized electrochemical performance, different amounts of TiO₂ component are controlled by three types (Pt/TNC-2 wt%, Pt/TNC-4 wt%, and Pt/TNC-6 wt%). Especially, the anodic current density of Pt/TNC-4 wt% is 707.0 mA g^-1_pt, which is about 1.65 times higher than that of commercial Pt/C (429.1 mA g^-1_pt); Pt/TNC-4wt% also exhibits excellent catalytic stability, with a retention rate of 91 %. This novel support provides electrochemical performance improvement including several advantages of improved anodic current density and catalyst stability due to the well-dispersed Pt nanoparticles on the support by the introduction of TiO₂ component and nitrogen doping in carbon. Therefore, Pt/TNC-4 wt% may be electrocatalyst a promising catalyst as an anode for high-performance DMFCs.