Systematic Study of Effective Hydrothermal Synthesis to Fabricate Nb-Incorporated TiO for Oxygen Reduction Reaction.

Fuel cells are expected to serve as next-generation energy conversion devices owing to their high energy density, high power, and long life performance. The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is important for determining the performance of fuel cells; therefore, using catalysts to promote the ORR is essential for realizing the practical applications of fuel cells. Herein, we propose Nb-incorporated TiO as a suitable alternative to conventional Pt-based catalysts, because Nb doping has been reported to improve the conductivity and electron transfer number of TiO.