Design of Highly Uniform Platinum and Palladium Nanoparticle Decoration on TiO2 Nanotube Arrays: An Efficient Anode to the Electro-Oxidation of Alcohols

Abstract

We explore electro-catalytic properties of a system consisting of platinum and palladium nanoparticles <br />dispersed over a nanotubular self-organized TiO2 matrix. These electrodes prepared by electroess and microemulsion <br />of palladium and palladium nanoparticles on to TiO2 nanotubes, respectively. Titanium oxide <br />nanotubes were fabricated by anodizing titanium foil in ethylene glycol (EG) fluoride-containing electrolyte. <br />The morphology and surface characteristics of Pd-TiO2/Ti and Pt-TiO2/Ti electrodes were investigated using <br />scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), respectively. The <br />results indicated that platinum and palladium nanoparticles were homogeneously deposited on the surface of <br />TiO2 nanotubes. The nanotubular TiO2 layers consist of individual tubes of 70-90 nm diameters. This <br />nanotubular TiO2 support provides a high surface area and it significantly enhances the electro-catalytic <br />activity of Pd-TiO2/Ti and Pt-TiO2/Ti electrodes for alcohols oxidation. The electro-catalytic activity of Pd- <br />TiO2/Ti and Pt-TiO2/Ti electrodes in the alcohols electro-oxidation was studied by electrochemical methods. <br />The results indicate that Pd-TiO2/Ti and Pt-TiO2/Ti electrodes improve the electro-catalytic activity for <br />alcohols oxidation greatly and confirmed the better electro-catalytic activity and stability of these new <br />electrodes. So, the Pd-TiO2/Ti and Pt-TiO2/Ti electrodes have a good application potential to fuel cells.