Superior durability and stability of Pt electrocatalyst on N-doped graphene-TiO2 hybrid material for oxygen reduction reaction and polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

[Display omitted] •Dual N-doped graphene-TiO2 composites (NG-TiON) for fuel cell system were successfully synthesized.•Pt/NG-TiON exhibited an excellent ORR activity with high half-wave positive potential and four-electron pathway.•Pt catalysts loaded on NG-TiON supports exhibited outstanding durability in long-term accelerated test.•Pt/NG-TiON catalyst exhibited higher stability and activity compared with Pt/C catalyst. To accelerate the commercialization of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), studies on durable support materials that can replace conventional carbon-based supports are being conducted. In this study, we prepared N-doped TiO2 on the N-doped graphene hybrid material (NG-TiON) using a facile hydrothermal method to develop a support for a platinum catalyst with both high stability and electrical conductivity. As-prepared NG-TiON supports were characterized using transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. The stability of the Pt/NG-TiON catalyst was considerably improved compared to that of Pt/C, and their high oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activities were similar. The durabilities of the Pt catalysts were investigated using the accelerated durability test. Single cell measurements revealed that Pt/NG-TiON has high stability and corrosion resistance with a performance degradation rate of only 9 % after 5000 accelerated durability test cycles while the performance of Pt/C decreased 83 %.