Synthesis and Characterization of Pt and Pt-Co Catalysts for Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells PDF Download

Author: Min Chen
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Catalysts
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
"Synthesis of high performance catalysts is one of the tasks for fuel cell researchers. In this thesis work, carbon supported Pt and Pt-Co alloy catalysts were prepared by several improved methods. Thermal gravity analysis (TGA), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to characterize these catalysts. Electrochemical activities of the catalysts were measured by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR)"--Abstract, leaf iii.

Author: Jiujun Zhang
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1848009364
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 1147

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Book Description
Proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells are promising clean energy converting devices with high efficiency and low to zero emissions. Such power sources can be used in transportation, stationary, portable and micro power applications. The key components of these fuel cells are catalysts and catalyst layers. “PEM Fuel Cell Electrocatalysts and Catalyst Layers” provides a comprehensive, in-depth survey of the field, presented by internationally renowned fuel cell scientists. The opening chapters introduce the fundamentals of electrochemical theory and fuel cell catalysis. Later chapters investigate the synthesis, characterization, and activity validation of PEM fuel cell catalysts. Further chapters describe in detail the integration of the electrocatalyst/catalyst layers into the fuel cell, and their performance validation. Researchers and engineers in the fuel cell industry will find this book a valuable resource, as will students of electrochemical engineering and catalyst synthesis.

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
The present state-of-art Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) technology is based on platinum (Pt) as a catalyst for both the fuel (anode) and air (cathode) electrodes. This catalyst is highly active but susceptible to poisoning by CO, which may be present in the H2-fuel used or may be introduced during the fuel processing. Presence of trace amount of CO in the H2-fuel poisons the anode irreversibly and decreases the performance of the PEMFCs. In an effort to reduce the Pt-loading and improve the PEMFC performance, we have synthesized a number of Pt-based binary, ternary, and quaternary electrocatalysts using Ru, Mo, Ir, Ni, and Co as a substitute for Pt. Co-catalytic activities were found for the elements Mo, Ru, and Ir. Both the ternary (Pt/Ru/Mo/C) and quaternary (Pt/Ru/Mo/Ir/C) metal catalysts in membrane electrode assemblies (MEA) outperformed pure Pt/C catalysts at all levels in presence of CO up to 100 ppm. Preliminary results suggest that by substituting Mo, Ru, and Ir in catalyst formulation, it is possible to reduce Pt-loading and increase CO-tolerance in PEMFC application. Comparison studies showed that the newly developed ternary and quaternary catalysts with lower Pt outperformed pure Pt catalyst in presence of CO-contaminated H2 fuel. High performance at low Pt loading of less than 0.4 mg/cm2 was achieved, thus exceeding the initial targets.

Author: Sonam Patel
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Platinum (Pt) and platinum alloys have attracted wide attention as catalysts to attain high performance to increase the power density and reduce the component cost of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Extensive research has been conducted in the areas of new alloy development and understanding of mechanisms of electrochemical oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The durability of PEMFCs is also a major barrier to the commercialization of these fuel cells. Recent studies have suggested that potential cycling can gradually lead to loss of active surface area due to Pt dissolution and nanoparticle grain growth [1]. In this thesis we report a one-step synthesis of highly-dispersed Pt nanoparticles and Pt- Cobalt supported on Ketjen carbon black (20% Pt/C & 20% Pt3Co/C) as electro-catalysts for PEMFCs. Pt particles with size in the range of ~ 2.6nm (Pt/C) and 3.9 nm (Pt3Co/C) were obtained through adsorption on carbon supports and subsequently thermal decomposition of platinum acetylacetonate (Pt(acac)2). A comparative characterization analysis, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), high resolution transmission electron microscope (HR-TEM), FT-iR, EDAX, cyclic voltammetry (CV), and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity, was performed on the synthesized and commercial (46.5wt% TKK) catalysts. The analysis was to reveal the Pt dispersion on the carbon support, particle size and distribution, electrochemical surface area (ECA), and ORR activities of these catalysts. It was found that the synthesized Pt/C showed similar particle size to that of the TKK catalysts (2.6nm and 2.7nm, respectively), but narrower particle size distribution; while the particle size for Pt3Co/C was found to be ~3.9 nm. Accelerated durability tests (ADT) under potential cycles were also performed for Pt/C and TKK to study the electrochemical degradation of the catalysts in corrosive environments. The ADTs revealed that the two catalysts (Pt/C & TKK) were comparable with respect to degradation in ECA and ORR activities. Initial electrochemical evaluation of Pt3Co/C was conducted, but durability studies were not attempted in this thesis due to its worse ORR kinetics than those of the Pt/C catalyst. From the experimental data, it was found that particle size impacted negatively the ECA and ORR activity of the catalysts.

Author: Shamsuddin Ilias
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 10

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Book Description
The present state-of-art Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) technology is based on platinum (Pt) as a catalyst for both the fuel (anode) and air (cathode) electrodes. This catalyst is highly active but susceptible to poisoning by CO, which may be present in the H{sub 2}-fuel used or may be introduced during the fuel processing. Presence of trace amount of CO and H{sub 2}S in the H{sub 2}-fuel poisons the anode irreversibly and decreases the performance of the PEMFCs. In an effort to reduce the Pt-loading and improve the PEMFC performance, we propose to synthesize a number of Pt-based binary, ternary, and quaternary electrocatalysts using Ru, Mo, Ir, Ni, and Co as a substitute for Pt. By fine-tuning the metal loadings and compositions of candidate electrocatalysts, we plan to minimize the cost and optimize the catalyst activity and performance in PEMFC. The feasibility of the novel electrocatalysts will be demonstrated in the proposed effort with gas phase CO and H{sub 2}S concentrations typical of those found in reformed fuel gas with coal/natural gas/methanol feedstocks. During this reporting period several tri-metallic electrocatalysts were synthesized using both ultra-sonication and conventional method. These catalysts (Pt/Ru/Mo, Pt/Ru/Ir, Pt/Ru/W, Ptr/Ru/Co, and Pt/Ru/Se on carbon) were tested in MEAs. From Galvonstatic study the catalytic activity was found in the order of: Pt/Ru/Mo/C> Pt/Ru/Ir/C> Pt/Ru/W/C> Ptr/Ru/Co/C> and Pt/Ru/Se. It appears that electrocatalysts prepared by ultra-sonication process are more active compared to the conventional technique. Work is in progress to further study these catalysts for CO-tolerance in PEMFC.

Author: Qiling Ying
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Electrocatalysis
Languages : en
Pages : 204

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Book Description
Catalysts play and essential role in nearly every chemical production process. Platinum supported on high surface area carbon substrates (Pt/C) is one of the promising candidates as an electrocatalyst in low temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cells. Developing the activity of the Pt/C catalyst with narrow Pt particle size distribution and good dispersion has been a concern in current research. In this study, the main objective was the development and characterization of inexpensive and effective nanophase Pt/C electrocatalysts.

Author: Kousik Ganesan
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 234

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Book Description
Conversion of energy stored in renewable fuels for sustained and environment friendly operation necessitates new technologies. Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells represent an energy conversion technology that has advantages of high operating efficiencies with low hazardous emissions. However the discovery of more active and poison tolerant catalysts for anode and cathode reactions remains a major barrier to commercialization of this technology. The search for improved catalyst formulations is hindered by the massive parameter space available for their construction. Combinatorial methods represent an exploration process well suited to accelerate this discovery through the ability to generate and screen a multitude of compositions in a single experiment. In this work, we describe a combinatorial strategy to generate a wide variety of catalyst compositions (single/binary) and interrogate their activity directly in an electrochemical environment. Catalyst library fabrication tools based upon array deposition methods were used to prepare samples possessing catalyst combinations containing Pt and additional metals such as Ru, Rh, Mo, Ir, Nb, Ta, Pd, Sn, Os and W. High throughput screening of catalytic activity was accomplished by scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM). Reactivity maps were constructed by directly measuring the kinetics of hydrogen oxidation with a scanning microelectrode probe in the presence and absence of adsorbed carbon monoxide. Results provide quantitative rate constants for hydrogen oxidation and poison tolerance over a broad sampling of catalyst compositions.

Author: Alejandro A. Franco
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 9814364401
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 608

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Book Description
This book focuses on the recent research progress on the fundamental understanding of the materials degradation phenomena in PEFC, for automotive applications. On a multidisciplinary basis, through contributions of internationally recognized researchers in the field, this book provides a complete critical review on crucial scientific topics related

Author: Christopher Odetola
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Catalysts in the electrodes of polymer exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) serve a critical function in reactions which can be used to generate electrical energy from chemical fuels. Pt nanoparticles are commonly dispersed on a conductive support and used as electrode materials in these devices because of their exceptional catalytic activity and electrochemical active surface area. The performance and stability of these electrodes strongly depend on the characteristics of the support. Catalysts supported on high surface area carbon black are widely used in low-temperature fuel cells. In PEMFCs, these catalyst materials can be exposed to high potential and low pH values, resulting in irreversible loss of activity that will limit the useful lifetime of the cell, ultimately leading to its failure. Pt is a noble metal which has good intrinsic stability, but carbon is not thermodynamically stable resulting in the corrosion of the catalyst support under these conditions. The design of more resilient platinum catalyst supports to carry out the successful reaction in a fuel cell's catalyst layer is required to extend the lifetime of PEMFCs degradation. In this thesis, two approaches were used to synthesize robust catalyst support materials for fuel cell applications. In the first case, carbon surfaces were functionalised to enhance their interactions with the catalyst and secondly, stable metal oxide was combined with modified carbon substrates, to maximise contacts within the composite electrocatalysts and to prevent carbon corrosion of a single phase carbon support catalyst. TiO2 NPs, were first chemically bonded to the surfaces of Vulcan carbon to help anchor the Pt catalyst nanoparticles through strong metal-support interactions. Validation of a dual phase catalyst support is an important goal of this research. Each material phase offers a unique advantage that can only be recognized by the preparation of a composite electrocatalyst. Pristine Vulcan (PV) was functionalised with glucose hydroxyl functional groups that react with the base titanium metal alkoxide in a sol-gel reaction and then calcined to form a more chemically crystalline surface. This is followed by impregnation reduction process to deposit the nanostructured Pt catalyst. Material characterization data of synthesized materials were used to correlate the effects of support structure and composition on resilient performance. Advantages from the TiO2/C supports toward performance and durability were contrasted against a set of control samples and demonstrated ex situ. The prepared composite catalysts showed substantial enhancements toward oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) as well as improved stability of the Pt-TiO2 heterogeneous interface formed between catalyst and support. The enhanced performance and durability of these composite catalysts is improved by applying the science of materials and interfaces to the synthesis of composite supports, thus serving as an example for further progress and optimization. Irradiation of these composite catalysts with UV-visible light also showed ~ 171 % photo enhanced activity for MOR, which clearly demonstrates a synergistic effect between the photo- and electrocatalysts. The comparison between the prepared catalysts indicates that there is an appropriate ratio of carbon and TiO2 to obtain the best performance of these photoelectroactive materials. These results demonstrate that methanol oxidation is achieved by electro- and photoelectrocatalysis using a simple and affordable method. This procedure can be conveniently exploited to enhance the response of direct methanol fuel cell electrodes.

Author: Zhongwei Chen
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 3527664920
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 448

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Book Description
Written and edited by top fuel cell catalyst scientists and engineers from both industry and academia, this is the first book to provide a complete overview of this hot topic. It covers the synthesis, characterization, activity validation and modeling of different non-noble metal electrocatalysts, as well as their integration into fuel cells and their performance validation, while also discussing those factors that will drive fuel cell commercialization. With its well-structured approach, this is a must-have for researchers working on the topic, and an equally valuable companion for newcomers to the field.