Abstracts Book - IMRC 2018

• SC1-O009
GREEN FABRICATION OF PLATINUM NANOPARTICLES
DECORATED TiO2 NANORODS AS EFFICIENT AND STABLE
ELECTROCATALYST FOR OXYGEN REDUCTION REACTION
Paskalis Sahaya Murphin Kumar 1 , Gopalakrishnan Kumar 2 , Siva Kumar Krishnan 3
1 Anna University Chennai, Department of Applied Science and Technology, India. 2 Daegu
University, Department of Environmental Engineering, South Korea. 3 Benemerita Universidad
Autonoma de Puebla, CONACYT- Instituto de Física, Mexico.
Development of adequate cathode material is one of the principal tasks for the
utilization of proton-exchance membrane fule cells (PEMFCs) as clean energy
sources of future transport and poratile electrodomestic applications. Here we
present a platinum nanoparticle decorated one-dimensional (1D) titanium
dioxide nanorods (Pt/TiO2NRs) nanocomposite with enhanced electrocatalytic
performance towards oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The TiO2 nanorods were
synthesized through a green approach, utilizing seaweeds extract, which not
only acts as reducing agent, but also serves as soft template for the direction
growth of the nanostructures. Pt nanoparticles of about 3.0 nm average size
were decorated over pre-fabricated TiO2 nanorods by borohydride reduction of
Pt ions. As prepared Pt/TiO2NRs hybrid nanostructures exhibited significantly
enhanced electrocatalytic performance and stability toward ORR, with specific
and mass activities of 0.428 mA/cm 2 at 0.9 V and 128 mA mg -1 Pt, which are 7.2
and 3.5 fold greater than the standard Pt/C catalysts (0.059 mA/cm 2 and 36 mA
mg -1 Pt). The enhanced catalytic activity and stability of the composite catalyst can
be induced by the strong metal-support interaction (SMSI). The unique 1-D
morphology of the TiO2 nanostructures also provides a higher surface area,
which further boosts the electron transfer rate at their functional interface. The
green approach utilized to fabricate Pt/TiO2NRs hybrid nanostructures in this
study provides a new synthetic strategy for the fabrication of metal-oxide hybrid
nanostructures of high electrocatalytic activities, required in fuel cells and other
energy conversion reactions.
Acknowledgment: Authors acknowledges CONACyT, Mexico, for offering the
cathedra de CONACyT position (Project No. 649).
Keywords: Nanohybrids, Electrocatalyst, Oxgen Reduction Reaction
Presenting authors email: mksivakumar84@gmail.com