The synthesis and functionalization of nanostructured carbon black by plasma for use in fuel cells

氢可能成为一种有吸引力的能量载体，与高效的氢/空气燃料电池相结合，将导致能源问题的理想解决方案，特别是在交通应用中。因此，目前正在大力开发聚合物电解质膜(PEM)燃料电池。然而，为了让PEM燃料电池在经济上可行，它们的成本必须大幅降低。目前，催化剂(铂)的价格只占成本的很大一部分；我们计划追求的一个降低成本的可能途径是开发一种替代的、低成本的催化剂(例如，铁)用于阴极氧还原反应(ORR)。在这种情况下，铁与氮原子结合，氮原子本身与炭黑(CB)载体的石墨化结构结合。我们的建议旨在通过等离子体分解含碳原料来生产定制的CB，该CB具有：(I)将Fe原子键合到CB结构中所需的高N含量，以及(Ii)适当的微孔结构。与传统方法相比，等离子体工艺提供了更好地控制CB结构的潜力。这对于这里所针对的应用程序至关重要。我们将使用INRS和McGill实验室的等离子体源，使用各种含碳原料来生产CB。第一步是验证通过改变合成条件可以制备出具有最佳结构性能的炭黑。然后，我们将使用等离子体炬原位方法对我们实验室生产的CB进行功能化；我们将尝试通过改变等离子体条件和氮前驱体来最大化氮含量并产生正确的化学C-N邻菲咯啉结构。炭黑材料将通过INRS开发的热解工艺处理，以固定铁催化位置，并将制备电极，以测试PEM燃料电池的催化活性。在该项目期间，三名博士生和两名硕士/硕士学生将在INRS和McGill接受培训。

Hydrogen could become an attractive energy vector that, combined with high efficiency H2/Air fuel cells, would result in a desirable solution to the energy problem, especially for transportation applications. There is thus a strong ongoing effort to develop Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) fuel cells. However, for PEM fuel cells to be economically viable, their cost must be reduced substantially. At the moment, the price of the catalyst (Pt) represents a substantial fraction of the cost; one possible path to reduce this cost, which we plan to pursue, consists in developing an alternative, low cost catalyst (e.g. Fe) for the cathode Oxygen Reduction Reaction (ORR). In this case, the Fe is bound to nitrogen atoms which are themselves bound to the graphitic structure of the carbon black (CB) support. Our proposal aims to produce, by plasma decomposition of a carbon-containing feedstock, tailored CB having: (i) high N content necessary to bond the Fe atoms into the CB structure, and (ii) the appropriate microporous structure. Plasma processes offer the potential for better control of the CB structure than conventional methods. This is crucial for the application targeted here. We will produce CB using plasma sources in our laboratories at INRS and McGill, using various carbon-containing feedstocks. The first step is to verify that by changing the synthesis conditions we can produce CB having optimum structural properties. We will then functionalize the CB produced in our laboratories using the plasma torch methods in situ; we will attempt to maximize the nitrogen content and produce the correct chemical C-N phenanthroline structure by varying the plasma conditions and the nitrogen precursor. The CB material will be treated by the pyrolysis process developed at INRS to affix the iron catalytic sites, and electrodes will be prepared to test the catalytic activity in PEM fuel cells. Three PhD students and two MSc/MEng students will be trained at INRS and McGill during this project.