Preparation of ordered mesoporous WO₃-TiO₂ films and their performance as functional Pt supports for synergistic photo- electrocatalytic methanol oxidation

Ordered mesoporous WO₃-TiO₂ composite films with different WO₃ contents were prepared on the FTO glass as functional catalyst support material for direct methanol fuel cells. The introduction of WO₃ reduced the titania phase transformation temperature and a part of anatase had transformed into rutile. With the 0.5 wt% of WO₃, the mesoporous composite film had well-ordered mesostructure and the best mixed ratio of anatase and rutile, indicating the optimal performance of photoelectrochemical oxide of methanol. For the prepared ordered mesoporous Pt-WO₃-TiO₂ film electrodes, the photocatalytic activity in methanol oxidation was optimized at 0.5 wt% of WO₃, whose photo-electrocatalytic activity was 3.6 times than that of a mesoporous TiO ₂ film without WO₃, due to the electron-hole separation efficiency and the special synergetic effects between Pt and holes under UV illumination.