SBIR Phase I: Renewable platinum catalyst for fuel cell applications

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是克服为汽车行业创造可行的氢燃料电池的限制步骤。该解决方案将更新电池催化剂，而无需将其从车辆上移除。这将大大节省总拥有成本，并提高整体系统可靠性，这是潜在客户在做出汽车购买决策时评估的最重要特征之一。交通运输行业一直在寻求创新，以过渡到可持续的解决方案，如零排放和绿色氢燃料电池技术，但这些车辆的广泛采用受到燃料电池电催化剂使用寿命短、燃料电池堆更换昂贵以及组件成本高的限制。该项目将延长电催化剂的使用寿命，从而延长燃料电池堆的使用寿命，从而使氢燃料电池汽车与柴油和汽油发动机汽车相比更具可行性和成本竞争力。这种替代方案是必要的，因为柴油车的人为污染前体排放约占20%，而这些排放与每年约11万人过早死亡有关。该SBIR一期项目建议建立一种堆栈内铂电催化剂更新的概念验证方法。由于燃料电池电催化剂在运行过程中会降解，因此该项目将开发一项突破性技术，通过更新电催化剂，使曾经被认为是消耗殆尽的、寿命即将结束的燃料电池得以再利用。在电催化剂不可避免地降解之后，这种更新过程可以进行多次，从而增加了燃料电池的使用寿命和耐用性。作为最昂贵的贵金属之一，铂通常用作汽车应用的催化剂，约占燃料电池总成本的60%。该工艺是同类中首次允许在电极表面进行电催化剂更新，而无需移除或更换燃料电池堆。该项目将建立电催化剂更新的工作参数，并使用具有三电极配置的定制测试设备和定制单电池配置的商用燃料电池膜电极组件来分析该过程的效果。该团队将利用多种技术，包括分析电化学，显微镜和电子顺磁共振技术来验证该过程的效果。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to overcome a limiting step in creating viable hydrogen fuel cells for the automotive industry. The solution will renew the battery catalyst without its removal from the vehicle. This will result in significant savings toward the total cost of ownership and an increase in overall system reliability, one of the top features potential customers evaluate when making automotive purchasing decisions. The transportation industry has been seeking innovations to transition to sustainable solutions such as zero-emission and green hydrogen fuel cell technologies, but the broad adoption of such vehicles is limited by the short lifespan of fuel cell electrocatalysts that operate, expensive fuel cell stack replacements, and the high costs of components. This project will make hydrogen fuel cell vehicles viable and cost-competitive with diesel and gasoline engine vehicles by extending the lifetime of the electrocatalyst and thereby the fuel cell stack. Such alternative options are needed, as diesel vehicles are responsible for around 20% of anthropogenic pollution precursor emissions, and these emissions are linked to approximately 110,000 premature deaths per year.This SBIR Phase I project proposes to establish a proof-of-concept approach for in-stack platinum electrocatalyst renewal. Since fuel cell electrocatalysts degrade during operation, this project will develop a breakthrough technology that enables the reuse of what was once considered expended, end-of-life fuel cells by renewing the electrocatalyst. This renewal process can be conducted multiple times after the electrocatalyst inevitably degrades, increasing the lifetime and durability for fuel cell operation. As one of the most expensive precious metals, platinum typically used as the catalyst for automotive applications contributes to about 60% of the total fuel cell cost. This process is the first-in-kind to allow electrocatalyst renewal at the surface of the electrode without removing or replacing the fuel cell stack. This project will establish working parameters for the electrocatalyst renewal and analyze the effects of the process using a custom testing apparatus with a 3-electrode configuration and on commercial fuel cell membrane electrode assemblies in custom single-cell configurations. This team will utilize several techniques including analytical electrochemistry, microscopy, and electron paramagnetic resonance techniques to verify the effects of the process.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.