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Updated: Jun 22, 2026

Temperature-programmed Deoxygenation of Acetic Acid on Molybdenum Carbide Catalysts
Published on: February 7, 2017
Carbon-supported, selenium-modified ruthenium-molybdenum catalysts for oxygen reduction in acidic media
Maxime J-F Guinel1, Arman Bonakdarpour, Biao Wang
1Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106-7204, USA.
Abstract:
The stability and oxygen reduction activity of two carbon-supported catalyst materials are reported. The catalysts, Se/Ru and Se/(Ru-Mo), were prepared by using a chemical reduction method. The catalyst nanoparticles were evenly dispersed onto globular amorphous carbon supports, and their average size was ca. 2.4 nm. Thermal treatment at 500 °C for 2 h in an inert argon atmosphere resulted in coarsening of the nanoparticles, and also in some decrease of their activity. A gradual reduction of activity was also observed for Se/Ru during potential-cycle experiments. However, the incorporation of small amounts of Mo into the Se/Ru catalysts considerably improved the stability of the catalyst against dissolution. The Mo-containing samples showed excellent oxygen reduction activities even after cycling the potential 1000 times between 0.7 and 0.9 V. Furthermore, they showed excellent fuel-cell behavior. The performance of the Se/Ru catalysts is greatly improved by the addition of small amounts of elemental Mo. Possible mechanisms responsible for the improvement of the activity are discussed.
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