Ultrahigh stable carbon riveted Pt/TiO2–C catalyst prepared by in situ carbonized glucose for proton exchange membrane fuel cell

Highly active Pt/TiO2–C catalyst has been synthesized by a microwave-assisted polyol process. The obtained Pt/TiO2–C sample was characterized by XRD, EDAX, HRTEM, XPS, and electrochemical measurements. The results show that the Pt/TiO2–C catalyst possesses substantially enhanced stability and identical activity in comparison with Pt/C prepared by the same procedure. Furthermore, carbon riveted Pt/TiO2–C composite with a novel structure based on in situ carbonization of the glucose was designed and synthesized. The results of TEM and electrochemical measurements indicate that the carbon riveted Pt/TiO2–C catalyst has much greater stability than Pt/TiO2–C and Pt/C with similar activity. The significantly enhanced stability for carbon riveted Pt/TiO2–C catalyst is ascribed to: (1) the excellent stability of anatase TiO2; (2) the strong metal-support interaction between Pt and TiO2; (3) the anchoring effect of the carbon layers formed during the carbon riveting process. These findings indicate that carbon riveted Pt/TiO2–C is a promising catalyst for proton exchange membrane fuel cells which are under long term operation.