The role of the support in COads monolayer electrooxidation on Pt nanoparticles: Pt/WOx vs. Pt/C

The electrocatalytic properties of home-made Pt nanoparticles supported onto WOx were determined for the electrooxidation of a COads monolayer and compared with that of a commercial Pt/C having the same Pt particle size. By combining electrochemical and spectroscopic techniques, we found that Pt/WOx nanoparticles exhibit a very high tolerance to CO at low electrode potentials (E = 0.1 V vs. RHE), which was never reported in the literature before. CO adsorption at E = 0.1 V vs. RHE on Pt/WOx yields CO2 production as observed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). When the gas bubbling in solution changes from CO to Ar, the current attenuates and the CO2 production vanishes. This points towards a limited number of active sites and a slow step in the electrocatalytic process. When H-2 is used to purge the electrolyte from CO, a steep and continuous increase of the H-2 electrooxidation current is observed pointing towards continuous liberation of the Pt catalytic sites. The high tolerance to CO of Pt/WOx is discussed in terms of strong metal-support interaction (SMSI), which involves formation of a metal-oxide film partially covering the Pt nanoparticles (encapsulation) and creation of W-OH groups upon H+ insertion at low electrode potentials.