Titanium vanadium nitride supported Pt nanoparticles as high-performance catalysts for methanol oxidation reaction

In the present study, Pt nanoparticles (20 wt%) were successfully anchored on vanadium (V)-doped titanium nitride hybrid support, which controllable prepared by adjusting the ratio of precursors. Electrochemical performance of the novel Pt/Ti0.8V0.2N electrocatalyst exhibits well stability and better electrocatalytic activity than the conventional Pt/C electrocatalyst under direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) conditions. Notable, Pt/Ti0.8V0.2N exhibits negative onset potential (ca. 0.1 V) and higher current density than Pt/TiN (1.7-fold) and Pt/C (2.5-fold), clearly demonstrating that methanol can be oxidized more easily on Pt/Ti0.8V0.2N catalyst. These results indicate that the V doping has co-catalytic and electronic effects, and the hybrid material is indeed a promising support to improve Pt catalytic activity and durability for practical DMFCs.