Uniform Pt nanoparticles supported on urchin-like mesoporous TiO2 hollow spheres as stable electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction

Suqiong He; Chuxin Wu; Zhen Sun; Yang Liu; Rongtao Hu; Lunhui Guan; Hongbing Zhan

doi:10.1039/c9nr10890d

Uniform Pt nanoparticles supported on urchin-like mesoporous TiO₂ hollow spheres as stable electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction

Nanoscale. 2020 May 21;12(19):10656-10663. doi: 10.1039/c9nr10890d. Epub 2020 May 6.

Authors

Suqiong He¹, Chuxin Wu, Zhen Sun, Yang Liu, Rongtao Hu, Lunhui Guan, Hongbing Zhan

Affiliation

¹ College of Materials Science and Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350108, Fujian, China. hbzhan@fzu.edu.cn.

PMID: 32374301
DOI: 10.1039/c9nr10890d

Abstract

In order to promote the commercial application of proton exchange membrane fuel cells, it is of great importance to develop Pt-based electrocatalysts with high activity and stability for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Here, urchin-like mesoporous TiO₂ hollow spheres (UMTHS) with a high specific surface area (167.1 m² g^-1) and improved conductivity were designed and applied as supports to disperse Pt nanoparticles (NPs) for the first time. Uniform Pt NPs (∼3.2 nm) on the surface of nanothorns were obtained after heat treatment. The as-prepared product (Pt/UMTHS) exhibited a more positive half-wave potential (E_h) than that of the reference sample Pt@C without UMTHS (0.867 V vs. 0.829 V). The improved performance can be ascribed to the high specific surface area of UMTHS. The Pt/UMTHS also exhibited a much better ORR stability than the commercial Pt/C after long-term cycling at 0.6-1.0 V according to the comparison of E_h, mass activity and electrochemical surface area with Pt/C. The enhanced stability of Pt/UMTHS was mainly derived from the strong metal support interaction between Pt NPs and UMTHS, together with the spatial restriction and the anti-restriction provided by UMTHS.