TiO2 nanotubes promoting Pt/C catalysts for ethanol electro-oxidation in acidic media

In this paper, TiO2 nanotubes/Pt/C (TNT/Pt/C) catalysts for ethanol electro-oxidation were prepared by co-mixing method in solution. TEM and XRD showed that uniform anatase TiO2 nanotubes were about 100 nm in length and 8 nm in diameter and the TGA results indicated that the amount of H2O contained in TiO2 nanotubes was much more than that in anatase TiO2. The composite catalysts activities were measured by cyclic voltammetry (CV), chronoamperometry and CO stripping voltammetry at 25 °C in acidic solutions. The results demonstrated that the TNT can greatly enhance the catalytic activity of Pt for ethanol oxidation and increase the utilization rate of platinum. The CO stripping test showed that the TNT can shift the CO oxidation potential to lower direction than TiO2 does, which is helpful for ethanol oxidation.