Titanium carbonitride-graphene composites assembled with organic linkers as electrocatalytic supports for methanol oxidation reaction

In the present work, the effect of different composites as electrocatalytic supports for the methanol oxidation reaction is evaluated. Two different TiCN-rGO composites, using organic compounds as linkers were synthesized. Subsequently, platinum was incorporated in the form of nanoparticles, and the electrocatalysts were characterized and compared with similar nanoparticles supported on TiCN. The electrocatalysts were characterized by XPS, TEM, XRD, Raman and FTIR spectroscopies and ICP-MS and the catalytic performance toward COads and methanol oxidations was evaluated. Results showed that the platinum nanoparticles were preferentially deposited on top of the TiCN particles rather than on the reduced graphene oxide, which allowed the nanoparticles to benefit from the TiCN electronic promoting effect. In addition, the presence of reduced graphene oxide contributes on the improvement of the morphological properties of the electrocatalyst, reducing the agglomeration degree of the particles and considerably enhancing the catalytic mass activities.