Eliminating precious metals from hydrogen fuel cells and electrolyzers

消除氢燃料电池和电解槽中的贵金属

• 批准号: RGPIN-2022-03632
• 负责人: Secanell, Marc
• 金额: $ 3.35万
• 依托单位: University of Alberta
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=760276
• 关键词: Eliminating; precious; metals; hydrogen; fuel

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that if the planet warms by 2 °C instead of 1.5 °C, twice as many people will face water scarcity, 1.5 billion more people will be exposed to extreme heat waves, and the risk of contracting vector-borne diseases, such as malaria and dengue fever, will substantially increase. Limiting global warming to 1.5 °C requires a rapid and far-reaching transition to an electrical grid supplied by renewable electricity, a zero-emission vehicle fleet, and a substantial reduction of industry related carbon dioxide emissions. Increasing the share of zero-emission vehicles and renewable energy in the grid will necessitate the development of electrochemical energy systems to store electricity in the form of chemical fuels that can be used in industrial and transportation sectors. Hydrogen has been shown to be an excellent chemical fuel due to its zero-emission nature, with the Hydrogen Strategy for Canada estimating that hydrogen could meet up to 24% of global energy demand by 2050. Hydrogen proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) vehicles are already commercialized, and several power-to-gas proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer (PEMWE) projects are underway to demonstrate their use. However, commercial PEMFCs and PEMWEs share two common weaknesses: a) the use of rare and expensive platinum-group metal (PGM) catalysts, such as platinum and iridium, and b) the use of fluorinated membranes. These weaknesses make the cost of these systems prohibitively expensive for many applications. The operation of fuel cells and electrolyzers in alkaline conditions allows the use of non-noble electrocatalysts, such as nickel and silver, and cheaper metals for porous layers and bipolar plates due to the less corrosive environment at high pH. Further, anion exchange membranes (AEMs) are mostly hydrocarbon-based, thereby eliminating the use of fluorinated chemicals used in PEMFCs, which are also expensive and pose health and environmental risks. Since 2016, several AEMs have shown promising ion conductivity and stability, thereby creating an opportunity for the development of novel anion exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs) and electrolyzers (AEMWEs); however, water accumulation in AEMFC electrodes, and a lack of detailed characterization and simulation tools for PGM-free AEMFCs and AEMWEs has thus far hampered further development. AEMFCs and AEMWEs offer the potential for transformative savings in material costs and are, therefore, viewed as a high-reward alternative to PEMFC and PEMWE. The proposed program aims at developing computer-aided design and experimental characterization, testing, and validation tools to optimize: a) electrode composition of low- and/or zero-PGM AEMWEs; and b) water transport in AEMFCs. It will also train highly qualified personnel in the areas of experimental fabrication, characterization and testing, and numerical simulation of alkaline electrochemical systems.

政府间气候变化专门委员会估计，如果地球升温2 °C而不是1.5 °C，将有两倍的人面临缺水，15亿人将面临极端热浪，感染疟疾和登革热等病媒传染疾病的风险将大幅增加。将全球变暖限制在1.5 °C需要快速而深远地过渡到由可再生电力供应的电网，零排放车队，以及大幅减少与工业相关的二氧化碳排放。 增加零排放车辆和可再生能源在电网中的份额将需要开发电化学能源系统，以化学燃料的形式储存电力，可用于工业和运输部门。由于其零排放的性质，氢已被证明是一种优秀的化学燃料，加拿大氢战略估计，到2050年，氢可满足全球能源需求的24%。氢质子交换膜燃料电池（PEMFC）汽车已经商业化，几个电力到气体质子交换膜水电解器（PEMWE）项目正在进行中，以展示其使用。然而，商业PEMFC和PEMWE共有两个共同的缺点：a）使用稀有且昂贵的铂族金属（PGM）催化剂，如铂和铱，和B）使用氟化膜。这些弱点使得这些系统的成本对于许多应用来说过于昂贵。燃料电池和电解槽在碱性条件下的操作允许使用非贵金属电催化剂，例如镍和银，以及用于多孔层和双极板的较便宜的金属，这是由于在高pH下的腐蚀性较小的环境。此外，阴离子交换膜（AEM）主要是基于烃的，从而消除了在PEMFC中使用的氟化化学品的使用，这些方法也很昂贵，并对健康和环境造成危害。自2016年以来，几种AEM已经显示出有前途的离子电导率和稳定性，从而为新型阴离子交换膜燃料电池（AEMFC）和电解槽（AEMWE）的开发创造了机会;然而，AEMFC电极中的水积累，以及缺乏无PGM AEMFC和AEMWE的详细表征和模拟工具，迄今为止阻碍了进一步的开发。AEMFC和AEMWE提供了变革性节省材料成本的潜力，因此被视为PEMFC和PEMWE的高回报替代品。该计划旨在开发计算机辅助设计和实验表征，测试和验证工具，以优化：a）低和/或零PGM AEMWE的电极组成;和B）AEMFC中的水传输。它还将在碱性电化学系统的实验制造、表征和测试以及数值模拟等领域培训高素质人员。