A fuel cell catalyst support based on doped titanium suboxides with enhanced conductivity, durability and fuel cell performance

Abstract

An entirely carbon-free multifunctional titanium suboxide doped with two metals has been developed as a novel fuel cell catalyst support. The co-functional Ti₃O₅Mo_0.2Si_0.4 (TOMS) support shows remarkably high electronic conductivity for a metal oxide. A Pt/TOMS catalyst was prepared and found to show excellent activity towards the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). This enhanced activity is attributed to a strong electronic interaction between the Pt nanoparticles and the TOMS support. Furthermore, this Pt/TOMS catalyst shows extraordinary durability in accelerated stress tests, losing only 10% of its active surface area over the 5000 cycle accelerated stress test. The fuel cell performance testing of the Pt/TOMS catalyst shows that practical fuel cell devices can be readily fabricated and achieve high performance, exceeding those of commercial catalysts. Thus, the proposed Pt/TOMS has the potential to be a viable carbon-free support that could be deployed in PEMFC technology as a near-term solution.