Designed Formation of Hollow Pt Nanocrystals Supported on MoOx-Modified Carbon for High-Performance Methanol Electro-Oxidation

In this study, we develop an efficient electrocatalyst for methanol oxidation, Pt nanocrystals (NCs) with hollow structure immobilized on MoOx-modified carbon black (h-Pt/MoO-C). The MoOx-C is fabricated by phosphomolybdic acid self-assembly on carbon black. The h-Pt/MoOx-C evolved from Ag@Pt core-shell NCs deposited on MoOx-C in saturated NaCl aqueous solution containing NI-140H. Because of the presence of MoOx, the electrocatalyst of solid Pt NCs anchored on MoOx-C (Pt/MoOx-C) for methanol oxidation exhibits about 3.4 times higher electrocatalytic activity than solid Pt NCs anchored on carbon black (Pt/C-H). The mass activity of h-Pt/MoOx-C is 2.4 times\greater than that of Pt/MoOx-C, ascribing to the unique hollow structure. Furthermore, the h-Pt/MoOx-C also exhibits better tolerance to poisoning species and is more stable under electro-oxidation conditions.