title: Synthesis of conductive rutile-phased Nb0.06Ti0.94O2 and its supported Pt electrocatalysts (Pt/Nb0.06Ti0.94O2) for the oxygen reduction reaction.
abstract: In this paper, Nb-doped TiO(2) with anatase and rutile phases was synthesized by the acid-catalyzed sol-gel method, and used as catalyst supports for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) were used to characterize the support materials in terms of material structures, morphology, composition, and surface area. XRD analysis showed that both the high concentration of hydrochloric acid present in the synthesis and the presence of Pt in the support could favor the formation of conductive rutile phased TiO(2), resulting in the improvement of electronic conduction of the Nb-doped TiO(2) support, which was confirmed by measured conductivities. For electrochemical characterization and ORR catalyst activity validation, Pt particles were deposited on the supports synthesized in this paper to form several catalysts, which were tested for electrochemical Pt surface area, ORR mass activity and specific activity. A monotonic increase in Pt ORR mass activity with increasing catalyst support's conductivity suggested that the support conductivity plays an important role in enhancing catalyst mass activity. The results showed that these non-carbon supported catalysts are promising as PEM fuel cell cathode catalysts.
authors: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z4.
authors: Yan-Jie
authors: YJ
authors: Wang
authors: David P
authors: DP
authors: Wilkinson
authors: Jiujun
authors: J
authors: Zhang