Strong Component-Interaction in N-doped 2D Ti3C2Tx-Supported Pt Electrocatalyst for Acidic Ethanol Oxidation Reaction

Abstract

Designing electrocatalysts with the selective C─C bond breaking in ethanol electro-oxidation is of interest as an efficient strategy to accelerate the large-scale applications of direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFCs).Pt nanoparticles (NPs) are herein on N-doped 2D Ti₃C₂T_x MXene via two-step synthesis steps including NH₃-assisted hydrothermal and NaBH₄-assisted ethylene glycol reduction routes. With the selective C─C bond breaking, the as-obtained 16 wt.% Pt/N-Ti₃C₂T_x catalyst exhibits 435.35 mA mg_Pt⁻¹ mass activity and 0.83 mA cm⁻² specific activity, being 1.26- and 1.77-fold increase compared to those of commercially available 20 wt.% Pt/C (346.21 mA mg_Pt⁻¹ and 0.47 mA cm⁻²). This originates from the advantages of unique 2D structures and the strong interplay between Pt NPs and nitrogen-doped Ti₃C₂T_x. Also, the Pt/N-Ti₃C₂T_x shows superior CO-poisoning resistance and long-term stability for the acidic ethanol electro-oxidation reaction (EOR). This work demonstrates the potential of heteroatom-doped Ti₃C₂T_x MXenes to increase the C₁ pathway selectivity and the catalytic performance of Pt-based electrocatalysts in DEFCs.