Pt immobilization on TiO2‐embedded carbon nanofibers using photodeposition

Currently, the use of fuel cell electrodes containing Pt catalysts has been limited due to technological problems in this system, primarily the system's high cost. The improvement of Pt catalyst use has been achieved by changes in the Pt immobilization method. In this study, we have studied Pt immobilization on carbon nanofiber composites using the photodeposition method. First, we prepared the carbon nanofibers, which were homogeneously embedded TiO₂ using the electrospinning technology. These TiO₂‐embedded carbon nanofiber composites (TiO₂/CNFs) were then immersed in a Pt precursor solution and irradiated with UV light. The obtained Pt‐deposited TiO₂/CNFs contained Pt that was immobilized on the carbon nanofibers, and the Pt particle size was 2‐5 nm. The XPS spectra showed that the amount of Pt increased with an increasing UV irradiation time. The current densities and total charge also increased with an increase in the UV irradiation time, possibly due to an increase of active specific area by finely dispersed Pt nanoparticles. (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)