Doped metal oxide electrocatalyst supports with enhanced conductivity

具有增强电导率的掺杂金属氧化物电催化剂载体

• 批准号: RGPIN-2020-05152
• 负责人: Easton, EBradley
• 金额: $ 2.11万
• 依托单位: University of Ontario Institute of Technology
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=717395
• 关键词: Doped; metal; oxide; electrocatalyst; supports

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) are clean, portable power sources powered by hydrogen from secure and renewable sources that produce water and electricity. Current PEMFC technology relies heavily on platinum (Pt) electrocatalysts to drive the anodic and cathodic reactions. Normally, Pt nanoparticles are dispersed onto a high surface carbon support (Pt/C) to maximize the surface area of the catalyst and increase cell performance. While carbon black has been the de facto catalyst support in fuel cell over the last 30 years, it is a liability when it comes to durability since it is prone to corrosion under the highly acidic and oxidative operating conditions of a PEM fuel cell. This is detrimental to the long-term performance of a fuel cell and hinders the longevity of fuel cell devices. Thus, new materials are needed to address these fundamental issues. My lab recently discovered an exciting and entirely new fuel cell catalyst support material. Specifically, his group has invented a conductive metal oxide catalyst support that has the potential to replace the carbon support commonly used in current fuel cell electrodes. This proposal is focused on the study and enhancement of a new reaction whereby we dope low cost metal oxides like titanium dioxide with various metals and semi-metals (e.g. Mo, Si). My lab was the first to discover that doping with silicon (Si) could greatly enhance the conductivity of these metal oxide support materials. These new support materials have extremely high stability to corrosion and remarkable high electronic conductivity, considerably larger than any other metal oxide-based support developed to date. These properties make these supports highly attractive for deployment in fuel cell systems for automotive and stationary power applications. A more stable support that also enhances the performance/stability of the expensive Pt catalyst would revolutionize fuel cells, improving performance and operational lifetimes, thereby enabling greater uptake of fuel cell technology to replace less eco-friendly power sources used in automotive and stationary power applications. Our long-term objectives seek to understand how the presence of the doping elements (e.g Si, Mo) influences the physical properties of the resultant oxide material. Furthermore, I seek to understand how doping influences the electrochemical properties of the support and nanoparticle catalyst particles that are dispersed onto it. To address these questions, my group will create novel metal oxide support materials with different compositions and perform detailed electrochemical studies of these supports and catalysts. Furthermore, the durability of these catalysts will be examined in order to understand how chemical composition and operating conditions influence the stability of these electrode materials so that they can be better used in reliable clean energy technology.

聚合物电解质膜燃料电池（PEMFC）是一种清洁的便携式能源，由安全可再生的氢气提供动力，可以产生水和电。目前的PEMFC技术严重依赖铂（Pt）电催化剂来驱动阳极和阴极反应。通常，铂纳米颗粒分散在高表面碳载体（Pt/C）上，以最大化催化剂的表面积并提高电池性能。虽然在过去的30年里，炭黑一直是燃料电池中事实上的催化剂支持，但它在耐久性方面是一个不利因素，因为它在PEM燃料电池的高酸性和氧化操作条件下容易腐蚀。这对燃料电池的长期性能是有害的，并且阻碍了燃料电池设备的寿命。因此，需要新的材料来解决这些基本问题。