Abstract:The polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) is an attractive power generation method from the perspective of environmental protection. Carbon is usually used as a catalyst support in PEFC, but it is oxidized under high electrical potential conditions. Ti 4 O 7 is expected as a new catalyst support because of its high electrical conductivity and chemical resistivity. Though Ti 4 O 7 as a catalyst support must have a high specific surface area for a high performance, it is difficult to synthesize nanostructured Ti 4 O 7 . In this research, Ti 4 O 7 nanoparticles with a size of about 60 nm were synthesized by carbothermal reduction of TiO 2 nanoparticles with polyvinylpyrrolidone (carbon source) using 2.45 GHz microwave irradiation. The experiment condition was at 950 • C for 30 min and the samples synthesized by conventional heating showed a grain growth. The findings of this study suggest that microwave processing can drastically reduce the total processing time for the synthesis of nanostructured Ti 4 O 7 .

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