Effect of transition metal on catalytic graphitization of ordered mesoporous carbon and Pt/metal oxide synergistic electrocatalytic performance

• Metal-containing mesoporous carbons are highly ordered and partially graphitized.
• Metal (W, Mo or Ti) catalyzes graphitization of highly ordered mesoporous carbon.
• Excellent synergistic catalysis between Pt and WOX.

The catalytic graphitization effect of transition metal W, Mo or Ti compounds on ordered mesoporous carbon and Pt/WOx synergistic electrocatalytic performance for methanol oxidation are investigated. Two-dimensional highly ordered and partially graphitized metal-containing mesoporous carbon materials (Me-OMC) are directly synthesized by using resol as the carbon precursor, triblock copolymer Pluronic F127 as template agent and metal salts (H6O41SiW12, (NH4)6Mo7O24 or Ti(OC4H9)4) as additives. During the heat treatment, metallic salts are converted to metal compound nanoparticles by carbothermal reduction and situ catalyze carbon graphitization. TEM and BET demonstrate that metal compound nanoparticles uniformly embed in carbon matrix and hardly affect the ordered mesoporous structure. In addition, Pt catalysts supported on W-OMC composites show an excellent electrocatalytic performance and much better CO tolerance ability for methanol oxidation, which probably contribute to synergistic catalysis between Pt and WOx. The practical electrochemical active surface area of Pt/W-OMC for hydrogen oxidation in H2SO4 solution is 148.0 m2 g−1, 4.1 times as high as that of Pt/OMC.

The carbon materials obtain highly ordered 2D hexagonal mesoporous arrays with 1D channel and the metal compositions are homogeneously dispersed in carbon matrix.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide