ZIF-67-derived CoP/NC effectively supported Pt nanoparticles for methanol oxidation reaction

Abstract

Metal–support interaction plays an important role in the catalysis reaction, and an effective support is highly desired in the hybrid catalyst construction. Herein, we demonstrated an effective catalyst system by coupling Pt nanoparticles over the ZIF-67-derived CoP/NC support for methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) in acidic and alkaline solutions. The results indicated that the Pt–CoP/NC catalyst showed high catalytic activity and stability for MOR owing to the oxophilic properties of CoP and the strong metal–support interaction, as well supported by the electrochemical measurements and the spectroscopic analysis, which far exceeded that of the Pt–Co/NC and commercial Pt/C catalysts. Specifically, the forward peak current density of the Pt–CoP/NC catalyst was 74.2 mA cm⁻² for MOR in an acidic electrolyte, which was 2.2 times higher than that of a commercial Pt/C catalyst. Further, in an alkaline electrolyte, the Pt–CoP/NC catalyst showed the highest forward peak current density of 118.6 mA cm⁻², which was 4.5 times higher than that of a commercial Pt/C catalyst. High catalytic kinetics and stability for MOR were also carefully discussed. Moreover, the Pt–CoP/NC catalyst exhibited excellent anti-poisoning ability in comparison to the Pt–Co/NC and commercial Pt/C catalysts with the help of the CO-stripping technique. The current work would be instructive for high-performance catalyst system construction based on the ZIF-67-derived CoP/NC support.