High electrocatalytic activity and stability of PtAg supported on rutile TiO2 for methanol oxidation

Abstract Rutile TiO2 is used as a support for the PtAg nanoparticles, and the catalytic activity and stability of PtAg/TiO2 for the electrooxidation of methanol are investigated. The PtAg nanoparticles with a Pt:Ag atomic ratio of 1:1 are prepared by the chemical co-reduction of the precursors of Pt and Ag, and physical characterizations reveal that the PtAg nanoparticles are evenly dispersed on TiO2. PtAg/TiO2 shows significantly higher catalytic activity and stability than PtAg/C, Pt/TiO2 and Pt/C for methanol oxidation in both alkaline and acidic solutions, indicating that rutile TiO2 is superior to carbon black as supports and PtAg is superior to Pt in achieving high catalytic activity. Rutile TiO2 is also shown to be superior to anatase TiO2 as supports for the PtAg nanoparticles. The results of this study suggest high potential of rutile TiO2 as a support material for electrocatalysts.