Niobium-doped titanium oxide for fuel cell application

• Published in: Electrochimica acta Vol. 55; no. 27; pp. 8013 - 8017
• Main Authors: Do, Thanh B., Cai, Mei, Ruthkosky, Martin S., Moylan, Thomas E.
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 30.11.2010; Elsevier
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Catalysts; Electrocatalyst; Electrodes; Energy; Energy. Thermal use of fuels; Equipments for energy generation and conversion: thermal, electrical, mechanical energy, etc; Exact sciences and technology; Fuel cells; Nanostructure; Niobium; ORR; Polystyrene resins; Sol–gel; Surface area; Titania; Titanium dioxide; Titanium oxides; Electrocatalyst; Titania; Sol–gel; Niobium; ORR; Scanning electron microscopy; Oxygen; Sol-gel; Doped materials; Transition metal; X ray diffraction; Surface structure; Titanium Oxides; Chemical reduction; Electrocatalysis; Transmission electron microscopy; Platinum; Sol gel process; Morphology; Preparation; Electrochemical reaction; Fuel cell; Catalyst support
• ISSN: 0013-4686; 1873-3859
• DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2010.03.027

High surface area niobium-doped titanium oxide catalyst supports were synthesized through a chemical method using nano-sized polystyrene (PS) latex as a template. By varying the concentration of template with respect to titania and niobium precursors, we were able to produce niobium-doped titanium oxides with surface areas of 75–115 m 2/g and sufficient electrical conductance to function as fuel cell catalyst supports. The oxides were subsequently platinized and evaluated as oxygen reduction catalysts using a rotating disk electrode. One of the samples showed a mass activity of 0.16 A/mg Pt and a specific activity of 170 μA/cm 2 Pt at 900 mV, which are comparable to our benchmark Pt/C electrocatalyst.