Non-noble catalysts for PEM fuel cells

聚合物电解质膜燃料电池（PEMFC）有望成为零排放汽车的电源和固定电源。加拿大在质子交换膜燃料电池的研究、开发和制造方面有很强的实力。然而，在生产和使用低成本燃料电池方面仍然存在重大障碍。其中之一是目前燃料电池中使用的贵金属催化剂（主要是Pt）的高成本和有限的寿命。在过去的几年里，世界范围内一直在寻找铂的非贵金属替代品，我们也是其中的一部分。过渡金属-碳-氮（TM-C-N）材料已被确定为有希望作为Pt的替代物。本研究项目的重点是寻找和理解用于PEMFC的非贵金属催化剂，主要是TM-C-N，使用组合和高通量材料科学（CMS）技术，其中许多不同的材料在一个实验中合成和测试。我们的实验室利用CFI、NSRIT和NSERC的投资建立了重要的CMS基础设施。在过去的三年里，我们在几乎没有任何经验的情况下，在战略项目资助下，与3 M和3 M加拿大的合作者一起使用CMS沿着来制备非贵金属催化剂（NNMC）。我们是第一个生产高活性NNMC溅射薄膜的实验室。我们对这些系统已经有了很深的了解和认识，但关于这些催化剂的许多问题仍然存在，其中一些问题必须在商业可行性成为可能之前得到回答。什么是催化位点？催化机制是什么？世界各地众多团体准备的众多“不同”的TM-C-N NNMC实际上是同一个吗？这些催化剂有多耐用--也就是说，它们能持续足够长的时间用于燃料电池应用吗？能找到更好的NNMC催化剂吗？本提案涉及这些问题。

Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC) hold promise as power supplies for zero emission vehiclesand as sources of stationary power. Canada has a strong presence in PEMFC research, development andmanufacturing. Nevertheless, there still remain significant barriers to the production and use of low-cost fuelcells. One of these is the high cost and limited lifetime of noble metal catalysts (primarily Pt) presently used inthe fuel cell. There has been an intense world-wide search for non-noble metal alternatives to Pt over the lastfew years, of which we have been a part. Transition-metal-carbon-nitrogen (TM-C-N) materials have beenidentified that are promising as replacements for Pt.This research project focuses on the search for and understanding of non-noble metal catalysts, primarilyTM-C-N, for the PEMFC using the techniques of Combinatorial and High Throughput Materials Science(CMS) where many different materials are synthesized and tested in a single experiment. Our laboratory hasbuild up a significant CMS infrastructure using investments from CFI, NSRIT and NSERC. For the last threeyears, beginning with virtually no prior experience, under a Strategic Project grant, we have been investigatingnon-noble metal catalysts (NNMC) using CMS along with collaborators at 3M and 3M Canada. We are thefirst laboratory to produce highly active NNMC as sputtered thin-films. We have developed significantexpertise and understanding of these systems which has been disseminated.Many questions regarding these catalysts remain, some of which must be answered before commercialviability is possible. What is the catalytic site? What is the catalytic mechanism? Are the numerous"different" TM-C-N NNMC prepared by numerous groups around the world actually one and the same? Howdurable are these catalysts - that is will they last long enough for fuel cell applications? Can better NNMCcatalysts be found? This proposal addresses these issues.