Metal-Support Synergetic Effect for Elevating PtPd Electrocatalytic Performance

The direct methanol fuel cell calls for designing various highly active catalysts containing less platinum, still keeping with reasonable stability. In this work, through controlling reaction system under acidic media (pH = 1), ∼3 nm PtPd nanoparticles are dispersed onto the TiO2 support (3PtPd/TiO2) via a facile one-pot hydrothermal route. In comparison with that of homemade Pt/TiO2 and commercial Pt black catalysts, as-synthesized 3PtPd/TiO2 shows a better performance for directly electrochemical catalysis of methanol and simultaneously exhibits high ability against poison from carbon oxide species. Clearly, the optimized usage of anatase TiO2 not only enhances catalytic activity due to the metal-support interactions but also improves long durability, which could be attributed to the OH existing at the surfaces of TiO2 and Pd.