Strong Component‐Interaction in N‐doped 2D Ti₃C₂T_x‐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.