TiN@nitrogen-doped carbon supported Pt nanoparticles as high-performance anode catalyst for methanol electrooxidation

In this paper, TiN@nitrogen-doped carbons (NDC) composed of a core-shell structure are successfully prepared through self-assembly and pyrolysis treatment using gamma-aminopropyltriethoxysilane as coupling agent, polyaniline as carbon and nitrogen source, respectively. Subsequently, TiN@NDC supporting Pt nanoparticles (Pt/TiN@NDC) are obtained by a microwave-assisted polyol process. The nitrogen containing functional groups and TiN nanoparticles play a critical role in decreasing the average particle size of Pt and improving the electrocatalytic activity of Pt/TiN@NDC. Transmission electron microscope results reveal that Pt nanoparticles are uniformly dispersed in the TiN@NDC surface with a narrow particle size ranging from 1 to 3 nm in diameter. Moreover, the Pt/TiN@NDC catalyst shows significantly improved catalytic activity and high durability for methanol electrooxidation in comparison with Pt/NDC and commercial Pt/C catalysts, revealed by cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. Strikingly, this novel Pt/TiN@NDC catalyst reveals a better CO tolerance related to Pt/NDC and commercial Pt/C catalysts, which due to the bifunctional mechanism and strong metal-support interaction between Pt and TiN@NDC. In addition, the probable reaction steps for the electrooxidation of CO adspecies on Pt NPs on the basis of the bifunctional mechanism are also proposed. These results indicate that the TiN@NDC is a promising catalyst support for methanol electrooxidation. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.