Electrocatalytic activity and CO tolerance properties of mesostructured Pt/WO₃ composite as an anode catalyst for PEMFCs

A mesostructured Pt/WO₃ electrochemical catalyst has been prepared by a loading small amount of Pt (7.5 wt %) on mesoporous tungsten oxide, which was synthesized by a simple one-step casting method using mesoporous silica (KIT-6) as a hard template. The resultant mesostructured Pt/WO₃ catalyst showed high electrocatalytic activity for hydrogen electrooxidation, and the mass activity (mA. mg-Pt^-1, per mass of Pt) of it for hydrogen electrooxidation was more than three times of that of the commercial 20 wt % Pt/C catalyst (E-TEK). In addition, it exhibited much improved resistance to CO poisoning relative to the 20 wt % Pt/C catalyst. Since the catalyst is also stable in an electrochemical environment, it could serve as an alternative electrocatalyst for proton exchange membrane fuel cells with high electrocatalytic activity and CO tolerance.