SBIR Phase II: Bimetallic Oxygen Reduction Catalysts for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）二期项目将开发铂过渡金属合金催化剂，该催化剂由高面积碳支撑，用于质子交换膜燃料电池的氧阴极。二期项目将在一期成功的基础上，优化负载铂（Pt）合金催化剂的合金成分和粒度，以实现高效的氧还原。低温合成方法允许T/J技术公司生产具有最小铂聚集的负载Pt合金。与单独使用Pt相比，合金成分可以将氧还原的过电位降低50 mV，并且可以生产出最大限度地利用Pt和氧还原效率的颗粒尺寸（3-5 nm）。性能将在半电池和全燃料电池实验中进行演示。该项目产生的催化剂将使PEM燃料电池更有效地运行。该项目的潜在商业应用将是用于车辆推进和千瓦级离网发电的质子交换膜燃料电池的改进氧还原催化剂。这些都是潜在的巨大市场，对能源效率、国际竞争力和减排都有有益的影响。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will develop platinum-transition metal alloy catalysts that are supported on high area carbon for oxygen cathodes in proton exchange membrane fuel cells. The Phase II project will build on the success of Phase I by optimizing the alloy composition and particle size of supported Platinum (Pt) alloy catalysts for efficient oxygen reduction. Low temperature synthesis methods allow T/J Technologies to produce supported Pt alloys with minimal Pt aggregation. Alloy compositions that reduce the over potential toward oxygen reduction by 50 mV versus Pt alone and will be produced with particles sizes (3-5 nm) that maximize Pt utilization and oxygen reduction efficiency. Performance will be demonstrated in half-cell and full fuel cell experiments. Catalysts resulting from this project will enable PEM fuel cells to operate more efficiently.The potential commercial applications from this project would be improved oxygen reduction catalysts for proton exchange membrane fuel cells for vehicle propulsion and kilowatt-scale off-grid electric power generation. These are potentially large markets with beneficial impacts on energy efficiency, international competitiveness, and emissions reductions.