Owing
to the sluggish kinetics of the hydrogen oxidation reaction
(HOR) in alkaline electrolyte, it is considered a limiting reaction
for the development of anion-exchange membrane fuel cell (AEMFC) technology.
Studies of alkaline HOR catalysis mainly focus on carbon-supported
nanoparticles, which have weak metal–support interactions.
In this contribution, we present a unique support based on transition
metal carbides (TMCs = Mo2C, Mo2C–TaC,
and Mo2C–W2C) for the HOR. PtRu nanoparticles
are deposited onto the TMC supports and are characterized by a variety
of analytical techniques. The major findings are (i) experimental
and theoretical evidence for strong-metal support interaction by both
X-ray absorption near-edge structure and density functional theory,
(ii) the kinetic current density (j
k,s) @25 mV of PtRu/Mo2C–TaC catalyst are 1.65 and
1.50 times higher than that of PtRu/Mo2C and PtRu/Mo2C–W2C, respectively, and (iii) enhanced
“tethering” of PtRu nanoparticles on TMC supports. Furthermore,
the AEMFC based on the PtRu/Mo2C–TaC anode exhibited
a peak power density of 1.2 W cm–2 @70 °C,
opening the doors for the development of advanced catalysts based
on engineering support materials.