Alternative chemical route to mesoporous titania from a titanatrane complex

High-purity, mesoporous titania was prepared by reaction of dimethylaminotitanatrane, [NMe2–Ti(OCH2CH2)3N] in the presence of micellar aggregates as templating agents followed by thermal treatments in the temperature range 350–450 °C. The powders were characterized by nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherms, thermogravimetry–differential thermal analysis, Fourier transform infrared, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, and x-ray diffraction.

Analysis of the morphological characteristics of titanium oxide powders calcined at 350 °C for 120 h and at 450 °C for 6 h showed the presence of a mesoporous structure, with an average pore size of about 3.5 nm. Firing temperatures above 450 °C caused the collapse of the mesoporous structure. Composite Nafion-based membranes, containing 5 wt% mesoporous titania fired at 450 °C as a filler were successfully prepared.

Preliminary tests in a prototype direct methanol fuel cell demonstrated that the composite membrane allowed cell operation up to 145 °C, thus showing a significant performance improvement over pure Nafion.