Oxygen vacancies in ultrathin BiOCl nanosheets induced Pt for enhanced methanol oxidation

Developing efficient and stable catalysts for methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) is urgent for economic development and energy scarcity. Herein, platinum (Pt) catalyst was planted on carbon nanotubes crosslinked BiOCl ultrathin nanosheets whose (001) facets enriched with oxygen vacancies. It has been found that he oxygen vacancies not only can enhance the electrical conductivity and the adsorption capability, but also can stabilize Pt due to strong metal-support interaction. The catalyst exhibits a mass activity of 2.39 A mg_Pt⁻¹, four times higher than that of the benchmark PtC. Moreover, its stability has increased by 54 times compared to PtC. Such a superior electrochemical activity is attributed to the enhancement of OH* adsorption dominantly, which is considered as the catalytically active species. Additionally, the density functional theory calculation is employed to explore the methanol oxidation mechanism with assistant of in-situ Raman test. The valuable formic acid may be produced rather than CO₂, which is expected to be applied to direct methanol fuel cells while generating additional economic benefits.