High CO-tolerant Ru-based catalysts by constructing an oxide blocking layer

CO poisoning of Pt-group metal catalysts is a long-standing problem, particularly for hydrogen oxidation reaction in proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Here, we report a catalyst of Ru oxide-coated Ru supported on TiO2 (Ru@RuO2/TiO2), which can tolerate 1–3% CO, enhanced by about 2 orders of magnitude over the classic PtRu/C catalyst, for hydrogen electrooxidation in a rotating disk electrode test. This catalyst can work stably in 1% CO/H2 for 50 h. About 20% of active sites can survive even in a pure CO environment. The high CO tolerance is not via a traditional bifunctional mechanism, i.e., oxide promoting CO oxidation, but rather via hydrous metal oxide shell blocking CO adsorption. An ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulation indicates that water confined in grain boundaries of the Ru oxide layer and Ru surface can suppress the diffusion and adsorption of CO. This oxide blocking layer approach opens a promising avenue for the design of high CO-tolerant electrocatalysts for fuel cells.