Nano Carbide Silicon Supported Titanium Nitride-Nitrogen Doped Carbon As Non Platinum And Low Platinum Catalyst

To date, high surface area carbon black supported platinum (Pt/C) is a practical andefficient eletrocatalyst. While the large scale commercialization of fuel cell is still achallenge due to the high costs and limited natural reserves of Pt. Therefore, it is criticalrequirement to explore high efficient, stable and low-cost noble metal-free cathodecatalysts.In this report, we prepared a hybrid of nano titanium nitride (TiN) andnitrogen-doped amorphous carbon (NC) using nano-SiC as a stable support (NC-TiN/SiC).Firstly, TiO2nanoparticles were deposited on the SiC surfaces using a non-boilingisothermal hydrolyzing process. And then the SiC-supported TiO2(TiO2/SiC) was heatedwith melamine under an N2atmosphere. An amorphous carbon layer was formed on SiCsuface and doped with nitrogen atoms simultaneously with nitridation of TiO2. As a result,a hybrid of TiN and NC supported on SiC (NC-TiN/SiC) was obtained. In order to explorethe origin of NC and the roles of the NC and TiN, we prepared annealed samples (Sample1,2and3) using SiC with melamine (Sample1), TiO2with melamine and TiO2/SiC forcomparison. In addition, a novel10wt Pt/NC-TiN/SiC electrocatalysts was obtained by amicrowave heating ethylene glycol method using NC-TiN/SiC as the support with a10wt loading of Pt.The composition and morphology of these electrocatalysts were characterized byX-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopyand energy dispersion spectra. Electrochemical activities were measurement by a rotatingdisk electrode with an electrochemistry analyzer.The results showed that: a hybrid of TiN and NC supported on SiC (NC-TiN/SiC)was obtained. The mass ratio of NC and TiN was nearly3:5, and the N concentration inNC was3at%. The NC-TiN/SiC electrocatalysts exhibited comparable ORR catalyticactivities as traditional20wt%Pt/C, as well as superior stability and methanol tolerance.The outstanding catalytic performances were ascribed to the synergistic effect of TiN andNC and the unique hybrid structure, which was proved to be a promising catalyst for ORR.10wt%Pt/NC-TiN/SiC exhibited comparable ORR catalytic activities to20wt%Pt/C in acidic solution and higher ORR catalytic activities than20wt%Pt/C in alkaline solution. Inaddition,10wt%Pt/NC-TiN/SiC also has higher stability than20wt%Pt/C.