Methanol electrooxidation of Pt catalyst on titanium nitride nanostructured support

We report nanostructured supports prepared by heat treatment of TiO2 nanoparticles at 700, 800, or 900 degrees C under ammonia atmosphere. From X-ray diffraction analysis, it is found that the phase transformation of the supports from antase and rutile TiO2, TiO to TiN (TiO2 heated at 900 degrees C, TiO2-900) is observed. In particular, the Pt on TiO2-900 (Pt/TiO2-900) exhibits such an excellent catalytic activity toward methanol electrooxidation compared to the Pt on Vulcan XC-72. It is likely that enhanced catalytic properties of the Pt/TiO2-900 may be attributed to stability of nitride support and interaction between Pt catalyst and nitride support, which are confirmed by cycling test of supports and X-ray photoelectron spectra of Pt catalysts. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.