Halogen Tailoring of Platinum Electrocatalyst with High CO Tolerance for Methanol Oxidation Reaction

Abstract The catalytic activity of platinum for CO oxidation depends on the interaction of electron donation and back‐donation at the platinum center. Here we demonstrate that the platinum bromine nanoparticles with electron‐rich properties on bromine bonded with sp‐C in graphdiyne (PtBr NPs/Br‐GDY), which is formed by bromine ligand and constitutes an electrocatalyst with a high CO‐resistant for methanol oxidation reaction (MOR). The catalyst showed peak mass activity for MOR as high as 10.4 A mg Pt −1 , which is 20.8 times higher than the 20 % Pt/C. The catalyst also showed robust long‐term stability with slight current density decay after 100 hours at 35 mA cm −2 . Structural characterization, experimental, and theoretical studies show that the electron donation from bromine makes the surface of platinum catalysts highly electron‐rich, and can strengthen the adsorption of CO as well as enhance π back‐donation of Pt to weaken the C−O bond to facilitate CO electrooxidation and enhance catalytic performance during MOR. The results highlight the importance of electron‐rich structure among active sites in Pt‐halogen catalysts and provide detailed insights into the new mechanism of CO electrooxidation to overcome CO poisoning at the Pt center on an orbital level.