EAPSI:Real-Time Imaging of the Degradation of Fuel Cell Catalysts

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Fuel cells constitute a class of devices that generate electricity via chemical reactions and are a promising source of renewable energy. As such, research on fuel cells in general and fuel cell catalysts in particular have recently attracted much interest from academia and industry. Currently, faceted nanoparticles composed of platinum and another metal such as nickel is considered to be best performing. However, these catalysts experience decrease in performance over time due to loss of nickel. Hence recent attention has been steered toward studying the degradation pathway to improve durability of the catalysts. Unfortunately, most studies are unable to offer real-time information of the degradation process. The awarded research will utilize a characterization technique that offers direct observation at the nanometer scale in real time to gain insight into the degradation process of fuel cell catalysts. The study will be conducted collaboratively with Professor Jianbo Wu at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU). Dr. Wu, along with his expert knowledge in the design and synthesis of fuel cell catalysts, possesses the characterization technique essential to the study. In addition, Shanghai Jiao Tong University houses several instruments that will aid tremendously in the proposed research. A liquid flow cell is made of two micron-sized electron transparent chips, between which the catalyst sample is deposited. The bottom chip is called a spacer and is of 150nm deep, which allows the passage of reactive solutions. The top chip is equipped with electrodes, which can be connected to an external potentiostat for current application. Coupled with the SJTU?s JEOL2100F Transmission Electron Microscope, which offers resolution down to 0.1nm and simultaneous rapid composition data acquisition, the liquid flow cell give researchers an exciting opportunity to understand the behavior of nanostructures in a dynamic environment in real time. This NSF EAPSI award supports the research of a U.S. graduate student and is funded in collaboration with the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology.