Methanol oxidation on MoO3 promoted Pt/C electrocatalyst

MoO3 is incorporated into Vulcan carbon XC-72R by solid–state reaction under intermittent microwave heating (IMH) method. The Pt nanoparticles are dispersed by microwave-assisted polyol process. The physicochemical characterization reveals that MoO3 and Pt nanoparticles are evenly deposited on Vulcan carbon XC-72R. The non-conducting MoO3 is electrochemically reduced to nonstoichiometric and electroconductive hydrogen molybdenum bronze (HxMoO3) in acidic solution. The peak current for methanol electrooxidation is about 128% higher on Pt-MoO3/C electrode than Pt-Ru/C electrode. Also, there is a significant increase in the electrode response toward stability test which can be attributed to hydrogen molybdenum bronze phase and its direct role in the conversion of CO to CO2. Intermittent microwave heating method is effective for incorporating oxide materials in Vulcan XC-72R in a short span of time which is evidenced by the formation of hydrogen molybdenum bronze phase during the CV measurements.

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► Direct and efficient way of incorporating MoO3 on Vulcan carbon by intermittent microwave method.
► Dispersion of Pt nanoparticles on MoO3/C composite.
► Electrooxidation of methanol at the Pt-MoO3/C electrode.