Nanocomposite of N-doped TiO₂ nanorods and graphene as an effective electrocatalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction.

Developing an effective electrocatalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction is a momentous issue in fuel cells. In this paper, we successfully synthesized the N-doped TiO2 nanorods/graphene (N-TiO2/NG) nanocomposite, which comprise the N-doped TiO2 (N-TiO2) nanorods (40-60 nm diameter and 90-300 nm length) and self-assembled nitrogen-doped graphene (NG) networks. We found that the nanocomposite exhibits great oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalytic performance and also shows long durability and methanol tolerance than that of the commercial 20% Pt/C catalyst. This new nanocomposite may also have potential applications in other fields, which are related to energy storage, gas sensors, photocatalysis, and so on.