title: Active Site and Electronic Structure Elucidation of Pt Nanoparticles Supported on Phase-Pure Molybdenum Carbide Nanotubes.
abstract: We recently showed that phase-pure molybdenum carbide nanotubes can be durable supports for platinum (Pt) nanoparticles in hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). In this paper we further characterize surface properties of the same Pt/β-Mo2C catalyst platform using carbon monoxide (CO)-Pt and CO-Mo2C bond strength of different Pt particle sizes in the <3 nm range. Results from diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) and temporal analysis of products (TAP) revealed the existence of different active sites as Pt particle size increases. Correlation between the resultant catalyst activity and deposited Pt particle size was further investigated using water-gas-shift (WGS) as a probe reaction, suggesting that precise control of particle diameter and thickness is needed for optimized catalytic activity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Wyoming , Laramie, Wyoming 82071, United States.|Center for Advanced Energy Studies, Idaho Falls, Idaho 83401, United States.
authors.forename: Shuai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Biological and Chemical Processing Department, Energy and Environment Science and Technology, Idaho National Laboratory , Idaho Falls, Idaho 83415, United States.|Center for Advanced Energy Studies, Idaho Falls, Idaho 83401, United States.
authors.forename: Lucun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Wyoming , Laramie, Wyoming 82071, United States.
authors.forename: Shibely
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saha
authors.affiliation: Biological and Chemical Processing Department, Energy and Environment Science and Technology, Idaho National Laboratory , Idaho Falls, Idaho 83415, United States.|Center for Advanced Energy Studies, Idaho Falls, Idaho 83401, United States.
authors.forename: Rebecca R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Fushimi
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Wyoming , Laramie, Wyoming 82071, United States.|Center for Advanced Energy Studies, Idaho Falls, Idaho 83401, United States.
authors.forename: Dongmei
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0529-9203
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Li
keywords: active sites; atomic layer deposition; electronic structure; molybdenum carbide; platinum; strain-ligand effect