DESIGN OF HIGHLY UNIFORMPLATINUMAND PALLADUM NANOPARTICLE DECORATION ON TIO, NANOTUBE ARRAYS: AN EFFICENTANO DE TO THE ELECTRO-OXIDATION OF ALCOHOLS

We explore electro-catalytic properties of a system consisting of platinum and palladium nanoparticles dispersed over a nanotubular self-organized TiO, matrix. These electrodes prepared byelectroess and micro-emulsion of palladium and palladium nanoparticles on to TiO2 nanotubes, respectively. Titanium oxide nanotubes were fabricated by anodizing titanium foil in ethylene glycol(EG) fluoride-containing electrolyte. The morphology and surface characteristics of Pd-TiO2fTi and Pt-TiOz/Ti electrodes were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energydispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), respectively. The results indicated that platinum and palladium nanoparticles were homogeneously deposited on the surface of TiO2 nanotubes. The nanotubular TiO, layers consist of individual tubes of 70-90 nm diameters. This nanotubular TiO, support provides a high surface area and it significantly enhances the electro-catalytic activity of PdTiOz/Ti and Pt-TiOz/Ti electrodes for alcohols oxidation. The electro-catalytic activity of PdTiO/Ti and Pt-TiO/Ti electrodes in the alcohols electro-oxidation was studied by electrochemical methods. The results indicate that Pd-TiO/Ti and Pt-TiO2fTi electrodes improve the electrocatalytic activity for alcohols oxidation greatly and confirmed the better electro-catalytic activity andstability of these new electrodes. So, the Pd-TiO/Ti and Pt-TiO,/Ti electrodes have a good application potential to fuel cells.

کلیدواژه ها:

Fuel cells ، TiO ، Nanotubes ، Palladium nanoparticle ، Platinum nanoparticle ، Alcoholselectro-oxidation