Advanced microscopic and spectroscopic evaluation of hybrid-supported catalysts

这一重点和行业驱动的合作研发项目-CRD与工业合作伙伴汽车燃料电池合作公司(AFCC)在混合负载铂催化剂的优化方面将解决汽车行业质子交换膜燃料电池(PEMFC)开发中的一些挑战。该项目解决了与PEMFC的性能、耐用性和材料成本有关的一些主要障碍。在这个CRD中，目的是在非常高的空间分辨率下研究金属氧化物/碳载体混合催化剂的结构，并研究这些材料在电化学循环后的演化，所有这些都是与AFCC密切合作的。 更具体地说，该建议将有助于AFCC：1)降低第五代PEMFC的材料成本；2)通过用混合载体、改性碳或更坚固的材料取代碳载体，提高燃料电池汽车电堆的耐用性；3)结合现场和现场材料测试，了解催化剂和混合载体材料在电化学循环后的降解情况。 这项研究将通过对AFCC生产的材料进行表征，提供精确的定量结构和化学信息，甚至是这些发展所必需的原子水平的化学信息，从而使新材料和新战略的合成能够与观察到的结构和最终的性质直接相关。这项工作将使用加拿大电子显微镜中心世界级的先进电子显微镜设备。这项提议提供了独特的表征、基础设施和合成方面的专业知识，以世界标准衡量是独一无二的，它将帮助加拿大燃料电池行业在需要更绿色能源的日益增长的国际市场中竞争。

This focused and industry-driven collaborative research and development-CRD project with the industrial partner Automotive Fuel-Cell Cooperation (AFCC) on the optimization of hybrid supported Pt catalysts will tackle some of challenges in the development of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC) for the automotive industry. The project addresses some of the major roadblocks related to the performance, durability and material cost of PEMFC. In this CRD, the aim is to study, at very high spatial resolution, the structure of mixed metal-oxide/carbon supported catalyst and to study the evolution of these materials following electrochemical cycling, all this in close collaboration with AFCC. More specifically, the proposal will help AFCC to: 1) Reduce the material cost of the 5th Generation PEMFC, 2) Increase the durability of the fuel cell automobile stacks by replacing the carbon support with hybrid supports, modified carbons or more robust materials 3) understand the degradation of the catalysts and hybrid support materials following electrochemical cycling using a combination of site-specific and in-situ testing of materials. This research will contribute to these goals by providing precise quantitative structural and chemical information down to the atomic level absolutely necessary to these developments through the characterization of the materials produced by AFCC so that the synthesis of new materials and new strategies can be directly related to the observed structure and ultimately the properties. The world-class advanced electron microscopy facilities of the Canadian Centre for Electron Microscopy will be used for this work. This proposal presents a unique convergence of expertise in characterization, infrastructure and synthesis that is unique by world standards and it will help Canadian fuel cell industry compete in a growing international market requiring greener sources of energy.