SBIR Phase I: Co-Tolerant Electrocatalysts for Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) Fuel Cells

这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目解决了对使用重整氢操作的质子交换膜燃料电池的CO耐受阳极电催化剂的需求。提高对一氧化碳的耐受性将减少贵金属催化剂的所需负载量，并允许在不需要分离和提纯氢气的情况下对重整的碳氢燃料进行操作。提出的方法是以前两种策略的协同组合，这两种策略已被证明在提高阳极电催化剂的效率和CO耐受性方面取得了成功。将使用具有内在活性和耐毒性的高表面积载体材料。此外，还将对载体进行修饰，以创建高度分散的双功能部位。第一阶段对制备负载型催化剂材料所用的三个工艺变量进行了系统研究。对材料的成分和微观结构进行了分析。将为活度的标准电化学测量准备电极。在第二阶段，将优化电极设计并扩大电化学测量范围，以评估全电池和堆叠式电池的性能随催化剂装载量、温度范围和燃料组成的变化。降低催化剂成本将解决阻碍PEM燃料电池商业化的一个关键障碍，这些燃料电池用于车辆推进和离网发电。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project addresses the need for CO-tolerant anode electrocatalysts for proton exchange membrane fuel cells operating with reformate hydrogen. Improving the tolerance to carbon monoxide will reduce the required loadings of noble metal catalyst and permit operation on reformed hydrocarbon fuels without requiring separation and purification of the hydrogen. The proposed approach is a synergistic combination of two previous strategies that have proven successful in improving the efficiency and CO tolerance of anodic electrocatalysts. Inherently active and poison-tolerant high surface area support materials will be used. In addition, the supports will be modified to create highly disperse bifunctional sites. Phase I involved a systematic study of three process variables used in preparing the supported catalyst materials. The composition and microstructure of the materials will be analyzed. Electrodes will be prepared for standard electrochemical measurements of activity. In Phase II, electrode designs will be optimized and electrochemical measurements extended to evaluate full cell and stacked cell performance as a function of catalyst loading, temperature range and fuel composition. Reducing catalyst costs will address a key obstacle hindering the commercialization of PEM fuel cells for vehicle propulsion and off-grid electric power generation.