Advanced Nanoelectrocatalyst of Pt Nanoparticles Supported on Robust Ti0.7Ir0.3O2 as a Promising Catalyst for Fuel Cells

Developing robust catalysts is still challenging for further commercialization of low-temperature fuel cell technologies. In this study, we introduce platinum nanocatalyst loading on Ti0.7Ir0.3O2 to assemble a robust Pt/Ti0.7Ir0.3O2 catalyst toward the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) in direct methanol fuel cell systems. These observational results demonstrated that the Pt/Ti0.7Ir0.3O2 catalyst is a promising anodic electrocatalyst due to the superior electrocatalytic activity and durability toward MOR, which was exhibited from the onset potential of ∼0.1 V and high current density of ∼21.69 mA/cm2 versus that of the state-of-the-art Pt/C (E-TEK) catalyst. We also demonstrated the electronic transfer from the Ti0.7Ir0.3O2 catalyst support to Pt NPs resulting in the modified surface electronic structure of Pt NPs, which could be the reason for the high activity and durability of the Pt/Ti0.7Ir0.3O2 catalyst. In addition, this approach could supply a promising potential catalyst for fuel cell technology and other applications such as solar cells, biosensors, and water splitting.