Carbon-Supported Pt-TiO2 as a Methanol-Tolerant Oxygen-Reduction Catalyst for DMFCs

Selvarani, G and Maheswari, S and Sridhar, P and Pitchumani, S and Shukla, AK (2009) Carbon-Supported Pt-TiO2 as a Methanol-Tolerant Oxygen-Reduction Catalyst for DMFCs. In: Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 156 (11). B1354-B1360.

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Abstract

Carbon-supported Pt-TiO2 (Pt-TiO2/C) catalysts with varying at. wt ratios of Pt to Ti, namely, 1:1, 2:1, and 3:1, are prepared by the sol-gel method. The electrocatalytic activity of the catalysts toward oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), both in the presence and absence of methanol, is evaluated for application in direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). The optimum at. wt ratio of Pt to Ti in Pt-TiO2/C is established by fuel cell polarization, linear sweep voltammetry, and cyclic voltammetry studies. Pt-TiO2/C heattreated at 750 degrees C with Pt and Ti in an at. wt ratio of 2:1 shows enhanced methanol tolerance, while maintaining high catalytic activity toward ORR. The DMFC with a Pt-TiO2/C cathode catalyst exhibits an enhanced peak power density of 180 mW/cm(2) in contrast to the 80 mW/cm(2) achieved from the DMFC with carbon-supported Pt catalyst while operating under identical conditions. Complementary data on the influence of TiO2 on the crystallinity of Pt, surface morphology, and particle size, surface oxidation states of individual constituents, and bulk and surface compositions are also obtained by powder X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, energy dispersive analysis by X-ray, and inductively coupled plasm optical emission spectrometry.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Journal of the Electrochemical Society
Publisher:	Electrochemical Society Inc.
Additional Information:	Copyright of this article belongs to the Electrochemical Society.
Keywords:	carbon, catalysts, direct methanol fuel cells, electrochemistry, heat treatment, oxidation, particle size, platinum, reduction (chemical), scanning electron microscopy, sol-gel processing, surface composition, surface morphology, titanium compounds, transmission electron microscopy, voltammetry (chemical analysis), X-ray chemical analysis, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectra.
Department/Centre:	Division of Chemical Sciences > Solid State & Structural Chemistry Unit
Date Deposited:	23 Oct 2009 07:41
Last Modified:	19 Sep 2010 05:50
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/24526

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