Redispersion of Mo-Based Catalysts and the Rational Design of Super Small-Sized Metallic Mo Species

Supported metal nanoparticle catalysts are one of the most important classes of heterogeneous catalysts but suffer from agglomeration in many cases. Particle redispersion is of great importance for restoring the activity. We report this phenomenon happening at Mo catalysts, in which small-sized Mo species can be achieved from the original large-sized Mo oxide on a carbon support (carbon cloth) in H2 atmosphere. Detailed characterizations of the specific process were done with ex situ and in situ techniques. Additionally, the small-sized Mo species expose a large number of active sites, which exhibit a high Faradaic efficiency (FE) in the electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) under ambient conditions. Our discovery of the formation process of small-sized Mo species gives more deep understanding of the redispersion phenomenon and provides potential application in industry.