Self-terminated electrodeposition of platinum on titanium nitride for methanol oxidation reaction in acidic electrolyte

초록

The development of high-performance electrocatalysts for methanol oxidation is an urgent task to enhance the efficiency of direct methanol fuel cells. We report a simple and controllable method to fabricate Pt-decorated TiN electrocatalysts using self-terminated electrodeposition at room temperature and ambient pressure. Under optimized deposition parameters such as electrolyte pH, TiN substrate pretreatment, and pulsed deposition potential, quenching of the Pt electrodeposition facilitates obtaining an extremely low Pt mass loading (0.93 μg/cm2) on the TiN substrate. Repeated deposition potential pulses enable a gradual increase in Pt loading, with a precise control of the loaded Pt mass. Maximum intrinsic and mass activities for the methanol oxidation reaction are achieved for the catalyst with a Pt loading mass of 55.0 μg/cm2, prepared by 20 deposition pulses. The maximum intrinsic activity achieved with the Pt-decorated TiN electrocatalyst is five times higher than that obtained with bulk Pt. The present results thus provide a facile method for the fabrication of cost-effective electrocatalysts. © 2020 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC

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