Non-noble catalysts for PEM fuel cells

聚合物电解质膜燃料电池(PEMFC)有望成为零排放汽车的电源和固定动力源。加拿大在PEMFC的研究、开发和制造方面拥有强大的影响力。尽管如此，低成本燃料电池的生产和使用仍然存在重大障碍。其中之一是目前燃料电池中使用的贵金属催化剂(主要是铂)成本高，寿命有限。在过去的几年里，全世界都在积极寻找铂的非贵金属替代品，我们也是其中的一部分。过渡金属-碳-氮(TM-C-N)材料已被确定为最有希望的替代材料。本研究项目致力于利用组合和高通量材料科学(CMS)技术寻找和理解用于PEMFC的非贵金属催化剂，主要是TM-C-N，其中许多不同的材料在一次实验中合成和测试。我们的实验室利用CFI、NSRIT和NSERC的投资建立了一个重要的CMS基础设施。在过去的三年里，从几乎没有任何经验开始，我们一直在战略项目资助下，与3M和3M加拿大的合作者一起，研究使用CMS的非贵金属催化剂(NNMC)。我们是第一个生产高活性NNMC作为溅射薄膜的实验室。我们已经积累了大量的专业知识和对这些系统的了解，并已得到传播。关于这些催化剂的许多问题仍然存在，其中一些问题必须得到回答，才能实现商业可行性。催化点是什么？其催化机理是什么？世界各地众多团体制作的众多不同的TM-C-N NNMC实际上是同一个吗？这些催化剂的耐用性如何--也就是说，它们对燃料电池的应用是否足够长？能找到更好的NNMC催化剂吗？这项提议解决了这些问题。

Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC) hold promise as power supplies for zero emission vehiclesand as sources of stationary power. Canada has a strong presence in PEMFC research, development andmanufacturing. Nevertheless, there still remain significant barriers to the production and use of low-cost fuelcells. One of these is the high cost and limited lifetime of noble metal catalysts (primarily Pt) presently used inthe fuel cell. There has been an intense world-wide search for non-noble metal alternatives to Pt over the lastfew years, of which we have been a part. Transition-metal-carbon-nitrogen (TM-C-N) materials have beenidentified that are promising as replacements for Pt.This research project focuses on the search for and understanding of non-noble metal catalysts, primarilyTM-C-N, for the PEMFC using the techniques of Combinatorial and High Throughput Materials Science(CMS) where many different materials are synthesized and tested in a single experiment. Our laboratory hasbuild up a significant CMS infrastructure using investments from CFI, NSRIT and NSERC. For the last threeyears, beginning with virtually no prior experience, under a Strategic Project grant, we have been investigatingnon-noble metal catalysts (NNMC) using CMS along with collaborators at 3M and 3M Canada. We are thefirst laboratory to produce highly active NNMC as sputtered thin-films. We have developed significantexpertise and understanding of these systems which has been disseminated.Many questions regarding these catalysts remain, some of which must be answered before commercialviability is possible. What is the catalytic site? What is the catalytic mechanism? Are the numerous"different" TM-C-N NNMC prepared by numerous groups around the world actually one and the same? Howdurable are these catalysts - that is will they last long enough for fuel cell applications? Can better NNMCcatalysts be found? This proposal addresses these issues.