MoOx-promoted Pt catalysts for the water gas shift reaction at low temperatures

Pt-Mo/SiO2 catalysts were prepared using impregnation-reduction methods. Mo-promoted Pt catalysts exhibit much higher water gas shift reaction activity at low temperatures than Pt/SiO2 catalysts. Various characterization methods including inductive coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray absorption near edge spectrum, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were applied to investigate the composition, structure and chemical state of the Pt-Mo/SiO2 catalysts. Our results indicate that the added Mo species effectively improves the dispersion of Pt nanoparticles and the synergistic effect between the Pt nanoparticles and surface MoOx species enhances the catalytic performance for the water gas shift reaction. Pt nanoparticles decorated with highly dispersed MoOx patches are found to be the active architecture. (C) 2015, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved