Hydrogenated TiO2 Carbon Support for PtRu Anode Catalyst in High‐Performance Anion‐Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

Abstract

AbstractThe availability of durable, high‐performance electrocatalysts for the hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) is currently a constraint for anion‐exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs). Herein, a rapid microwave‐assisted synthesis method is used to develop a core–shell catalyst support based on a hydrogenated TiO2/carbon for PtRu nanoparticles (NPs). The hydrogenated TiO2 provides a strong metal‐support interaction with the PtRu NPs, which improves the catalyst's oxophilicity and HOR activity compared to commercial PtRu/C and enables greater size control of the catalyst NPs. The as‐synthesized PtRu/TiO2/C‐400 electrocatalyst exhibits respectable performance in an AEMFC operated at 80 °C, yielding the highest current density (up to 3× higher) within the catalytic region (compared at 0.80–0.90 V) and voltage efficiency (68%@ 0.5 A cm−2) values in the compared literature. In addition, the cell demonstrates promising short‐term voltage stability with a minor voltage decay of 1.5 mV h−1. This “first‐of‐its‐kind in alkaline” work may open further research avenues to develop rapid synthesis methods to prepare advanced core–shell metal‐oxide/carbon supports for electrocatalysts for use in the next‐generation of AEMFCs with potential applicability to the broader electrochemical systems research community.