High activity of novel Pd/TiO2 nanotube catalysts for methanol electro-oxidation

Electro-oxidation of methanol in sulfuric acid solution was studied using palladium well-dispersed on titanium nanotubes, in relation to methanol oxidation processes in the direct oxidation methanol fuel cell. Pd dispersed on titania nanotubes, which leads to high surface area substrates, showed excellent catalytic activities compared to those of pure Pd and Pd-TiO₂ nanoparticles. TEM results show a narrow distribution of TiO₂ nanoparticles whose particle size is about 10 nm, and uniform nano-sized TiO₂ nanotubes with 10 nm in diameters are seen from HRTEM . A homogeneous structure in the composite nanomaterials is indicated by XRD analysis. The composite electrode activities were measured by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and at 25 °C it was found that 3 wt% Pd in titania nanotubes had the best activity for methanol oxidation.