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

摘要

Carbon-coated titanium dioxide (TiO_2-C) has received much attention as a catalyst support in proton exchange membrane fuel cells. In this study, TiO_2 nanorod arrays (NRs) are hydrothermally grown on carbon paper and converted into TiO_2-C NRs by heat treatment at 900 ℃ under methane atmosphere. Then, platinum nanoparticles are sputtered onto the TiO_2 NRs by physical vapor deposition to produce Pt -TiO_2-G The as-prepared Pt-TiO_2-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-TiO_2-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 g_(Pt)~(-1) (as the cathode) is proposed. The fabricated Pt-TiO_2-C electrode can be used in proton exchange membrane fuel cells.