Enhanced electrocatalytic performance for methanol oxidation on Pt–TiO2/ITO electrode under UV illumination
✍ Scribed by Hongmei Zhang; Weiqiang Zhou; Yukou Du; Ping Yang; Chuanyi Wang; Jingkun Xu
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 2010
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 786 KB
- Volume
- 35
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0360-3199
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Pt is one of the most important electrode materials employed in direct methanol fuel cell, and many efforts have been directed to improving its electrocatalytic performance. In this work, PteTiO 2 nanocomposites are successfully prepared by a solegel method. As revealed by TEM, Pt nanoparticles with an average size of 2.6 nm are well uniformly dispersed on porous TiO 2 . XRD structural characterization indicates that Pt possesses a face centered cubic crystal structure while TiO 2 is in the format of both rutile and anatase phases. The electrochemical performance of as-prepared nanocomposite electrode (PteTiO 2 /ITO) is evaluated by studying the electrocatalytic oxidation of methanol in an alkaline medium with or without UV illumination. Comparative experiments evince that the electrochemical performance of PteTiO 2 /ITO for methanol electrooxidation is markedly improved under UV illumination. Under UV illumination, moreover, the poisoning resistance of PteTiO 2 /ITO for methanol electrooxidation is significantly improved, as supported by the results of time-coursed current measurements.