Advanced Ru/Ti4O7 catalyst for Tolerating CO and H2S poisoning to hydrogen oxidation reaction

CO and H2S poisoning of Pt-based catalysts for hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) stands as one of the long-standing hindrances to the widespread commercialization of proton exchange membrane fuel cells. In this paper, a Ru/Ti4O7 catalyst is successfully synthesized by the microwave-thermal method. This Ru/Ti4O7 catalyst shows a much higher noble metal mass activity than those of commercial PtRu/C and conventional Ru/C catalysts. The performance of the Ru/Ti4O7 catalyst under the exist of CO or H2S shows insignificant current decay, which is far superior to commercial PtRu/C and Pt/C catalysts. In this Ru/Ti4O7 catalyst, the electron transfer between Ru and Ti to form d-p orbital hybridization is considered to be responsible for the favorable catalytic HOR performance and the corresponding CO and H2S tolerance. The interaction mechanism formed by electron transfer may open a promising way for the subsequent development of anti-poisoning catalysts for PEM fuel cell hydrogen oxidation reaction.