An Efficient H<sub>2</sub>S-Tolerant Hydrogen Oxidation Electrocatalyst Enabled by a Lewis Acid Modifier for Fuel Cells
Industrial hydrogen fuel typically comprises about 5 ppm of hydrogen sulfide (H<sub>2</sub>S), incurring irreversible poisoning of platinum on carbon (Pt/C) catalyst in fuel cells. For realistic use, H<sub>2</sub>S should be removed to below 4 ppb; this process, however, is challenging and costly. We describe an exceptional H<sub>2</sub>S-tolerant yet high-performing hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) catalyst prepared by chemical grafting of chromic oxide (Cr<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>) onto a molybdenum-nickel (MoNi<sub>4</sub>) alloy. Cr<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> as a Lewis acid enhances the specific adsorption of hydroxyl ions, which in turn prevents from S<sup>2-</sup> diffusing to the catalyst surface via electrostatic repulsion. Meanwhile, the adsorbed hydroxyl species boost HOR kinetics through improving the hydrogen-bond networks in electrical double layers. The composite catalyst achieved HOR performance comparable to that of commercial Pt/C in an alkaline electrolyte. Moreover, a fuel cell using this catalyst as anode can survive 5 ppm of H<sub>2</sub>S without deactivation, compared with rapid degradation observed over the Pt/C counterpart.
Authors
- Fei‐Yue Gao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3811-7509)
- Min‐Rui Gao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7805-803X)
- Shoujie Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0021-5584)
- Chenchen Hang
- Pengcheng Yu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5390-3308)
- Ye-Hua Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4831-6314)
- Yang Yu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1790-807X)
- Yude Su (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3553-9458)
- Zhi‐Zheng Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2022-9147)
- Xiaolong Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5596-0776)
- Xiaopeng Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8333-0408)
- Ye-Hua Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4831-6314)
- Lei Zhu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1685-7968)
- Shu-Ping Sun
Institutions
- University of Science and Technology of China (CN)
- Anhui University (CN)
- Suzhou University of Science and Technology (CN)
- Hefei National Center for Physical Sciences at Nanoscale (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nano Letters
- Published
- 2025-02-21
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c06621
- Citations
- 10
- Primary Topic
- Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 3.63
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- China Postdoctoral Science Foundation
- University of Science and Technology of China
- Natural Science Foundation of Anhui Province
- National Postdoctoral Program for Innovative Talents
- National Key Research and Development Program of China
- Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities