Study of Pt supported on Nb doped TiO2 catalyst

In this paper, niobium doped titanium oxide were synthesized and investigated as a cathode catalyst support material for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). In chemical synthesis, we used two different methods 1) a low-temperature synthesis route for Nb
_x
Ti
_1-x
O
₂
(x = 0.1, 0.005) via a surfactant templating method 2) NbO
₂
and TiO
₂
sintered at high temperatures (700°C and 1000°C) to form Nb
_x
Ti
_1-x
O
₂
(x = 0.1). X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) techniques were applied for characterization of synthesized supporting material. XRD analysis revealed presence of anatase and rutlie TiO
₂
phases in synthesized support powder at 700°C. At 1000°C, XRD analysis showed only presence of rutile TiO
₂
. Existence of any peaks belonging to Nb compounds has not been observed, indicating Nb incorporated into the lattice. XAS analysis also revealed presence of anatase and rutile phases at 700°C, only presence of rutile in 1000°C. Niobium doped titanium oxide supported Pt nanocatalyst synthesized; using polyol method was characterized by SEM technique. Pt particle sizes, interatomic distances and distribution were found by XRD, XAS and SEM.