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†

Suqiong He,^ab Chuxin Wu,^b Zhen Sun,^ab Yang Liu,^b Rongtao Hu,^b Lunhui Guan

*^b and Hongbing Zhan*^a

Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

^a College of Materials Science and Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350108, Fujian, China
E-mail: hbzhan@fzu.edu.cn

^b CAS Key Laboratory of Design and Assembly of Functional Nanostructures, Fujian Key Laboratory of Nanomaterials, Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fuzhou 350116, Fujian, China
E-mail: guanlh@fjirsm.ac.cn

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.

This article is part of the themed collection: Celebrating 60 years of the Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter

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Article information

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/C9NR10890D
Article type: Paper
Submitted: 27 Des. 2019
Accepted: 15 Apr. 2020
First published: 15 Apr. 2020

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Nanoscale, 2020,12, 10656-10663

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

S. He, C. Wu, Z. Sun, Y. Liu, R. Hu, L. Guan and H. Zhan, Nanoscale, 2020, 12, 10656 DOI: 10.1039/C9NR10890D

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