Platinum nanoparticles decorated robust binary transition metal nitride–carbon nanotubes hybrid as an efficient electrocatalyst for the methanol oxidation reaction

Titanium cobalt nitride (TiCoN)–CNTs hybrid support is prepared by a facile and efficient method, including a one-pot solvothermal process followed by a nitriding process, and this hybrid support is further decorated with Pt nanoparticles to catalyze the oxidation of methanol. The catalyst is characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and electrochemical measurements. Notably, Pt/CNTs@TiCoN catalyst exhibits a much higher mass activity and durability than that of the conventional Pt/C (JM) for methanol oxidation. The experimental data indicates that the CNTs@TiCoN hybrid support combines the merits of the CNTs’s high conductivity and the superb corrosion resistance of external TiCoN coating.