Enhancement of electrochemical stability and catalytic activity of Pt nanoparticles via strong metal-support interaction with sulfur-containing ordered mesoporous carbon

Pt nanoparticles on sulfur-containing ordered mesoporous carbon (Pt/S-OMC) are obtained with 3 nm in size and 60 wt.% loading. XPS analysis shows that there is a strong metal-support interaction between Pt nanoparticles and S atoms embedded on the OMC support. This strong metal-support interaction fastens Pt nanoparticles upon the support and alters the electronic state of Pt from Pt0 of bulk Pt to a slightly charged state of Ptδ+. These features result in an improvement both in electrochemical stability and oxygen reduction reaction kinetics compared to Pt/OMC where the OMC does not have sulfur atoms. The approach of tuning the electronic state and the interaction of Pt on carbon supports by embedding heterogeneous atoms into the OMC can effectively improve the stability and catalytic activity of Pt nanoparticles.