Phosphorus Doped MoO2 Enhanced Pt Catalyst for Methanol Oxidation

Abstract

The sluggish kinetics of methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) required high-performing catalysts in the development of direct methanol fuel cells. Herein, a phosphorus-doped MoO₂ nanorods-supported Pt catalyst was proposed which exhibited remarkably enhanced catalytic performance toward MOR in comparison with Pt/MoO₂ and commercial Pt/C. Specifically, the Pt/MoO₂-P possessed the highest peak current density of 62.63 mA cm⁻², about 1.38 and 2.21 times higher than that of Pt/MoO₂ (45.24 mA cm⁻²) and Pt/C (28.40 mA cm⁻²), respectively. Meanwhile, the Pt/MoO₂-P possessed high intrinsic activity expressed by specific activity and mass activity, and largely improved catalytic kinetics. Moreover, the chronoamperometry and CO-stripping testing successfully revealed the superior stability and CO-poisoning resistance of Pt/MoO₂-P, rendering Pt/MoO₂-P a promising catalyst for MOR. The theoretical calculation revealed the electron redistribution and strong metal-support interaction among Pt/MoO₂-P catalysts. The greatly enhanced catalytic performance could be attributed to the heteroatom doping engineering, greatly enhancing the conductivity, and inducing electron redistribution, thereby leading to the strong metal-support interaction and high CO-anti poisoning ability.