Browsing by Subject "membrane electrode assembly"

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    Atomically dispersed single iron sites for promoting Pt and Pt3Co fuel cell catalysts: performance and durability improvements
    (RSC, 2021-09) Qiao, Zhi; Wang, Chenyu; Li, Chenzhao; Zeng, Yachao; Hwang, Sooyeon; Li, Boyang; Karakalos, Stavros; Park, Jaehyung; Kropf, A. Jeremy; Wegener, Evan C.; Gong, Qing; Xu, Hui; Wang, Guofeng; Myers, Deborah J.; Xie, Jian; Spendelow, Jacob S.; Wu, Gang; Mechanical and Energy Engineering, School of Engineering and Technology
    Significantly reducing platinum group metal (PGM) loading while improving catalytic performance and durability is critical to accelerating proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) for transportation. Here we report an effective strategy to boost PGM catalysts through integrating PGM-free atomically-dispersed single metal active sites in the carbon support toward the cathode oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). We achieved uniform and fine Pt nanoparticle (NP) (∼2 nm) dispersion on an already highly ORR-active FeN4 site-rich carbon (FeN4–C). Furthermore, we developed an effective approach to preparing a well-dispersed and highly ordered L12 Pt3Co intermetallic nanoparticle catalyst on the FeN4–C support. DFT calculations predicted a synergistic interaction between Pt clusters and surrounding FeN4 sites through weakening O2 adsorption by 0.15 eV on Pt sites and reducing activation energy to break O–O bonds, thereby enhancing the intrinsic activity of Pt. Experimentally, we verified the synergistic effect between Pt or Pt3Co NPs and FeN4 sites, leading to significantly enhanced ORR activity and stability. Especially in a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) with a low cathode Pt loading (0.1 mgPt cm−2), the Pt/FeN4–C catalyst achieved a mass activity of 0.451 A mgPt−1 and retained 80% of the initial values after 30 000 voltage cycles (0.60 to 0.95 V), exceeding DOE 2020 targets. Furthermore, the Pt3Co/FeN4 catalyst achieved significantly enhanced performance and durability concerning initial mass activity (0.72 A mgPt−1), power density (824 mW cm−2 at 0.67 V), and stability (23 mV loss at 1.0 A cm−2). The approach to exploring the synergy between PGM and PGM-free Fe–N–C catalysts provides a new direction to design advanced catalysts for hydrogen fuel cells and various electrocatalysis processes.
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    Effects of Ink Formulation on Construction of Catalyst Layers for High-Performance Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells
    (ACS, 2021-07) Gong, Qing; Li, Chenzhao; Liu, Yadong; Ilavsky, Jan; Guo, Fei; Cheng, Xuan; Xie, Jian; Mechanical and Energy Engineering, School of Engineering and Technology
    Rational design of catalyst layers in a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) is crucial for achieving high-performance polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells. Establishing a clear understanding of the property (catalyst ink)-structure (catalyst layer)-performance (MEA) relationship lays the foundation for this rational design. In this work, a synergistic approach was taken to correlate the ink formulation, the microstructure of catalyst layers, and the resulting MEA performance to establish such a property-structure-performance relationship. The solvent composition (n-PA/H2O mixtures) demonstrated a strong influence on the performance of the MEA fabricated with an 830-EW (Aquivion) ionomer, especially polarization losses of cell activation and mass transport. The performance differences were studied in terms of how the solvent composition affects the catalyst/ionomer interface, ionomer network, and pore structure of the resulting catalyst layers. The ionomer aggregates mainly covered the surface of catalyst aggregates acting as oxygen reduction reaction active sites, and the aggregate sizes of the ionomer and catalyst (revealed by ultrasmall angle X-ray scattering and cryo-transmission electron microscopy) were dictated by tuning the solvent composition, which in turn determined the catalyst/ionomer interface (available active sites). In n-PA/H2O mixtures with 50∼90 wt % H2O, the catalyst agglomerates could be effectively broken up into small aggregates, leading to enhanced kinetic activities. The boiling point of the mixed solvents determined the pore structure of ultimate catalyst layers, as evidenced by mercury porosimetry and scanning electron microscopy. For mixed solvents with a higher boiling point, the catalyst-ionomer aggregates in the ink tend to agglomerate during the solvent evaporation process and finally form larger catalyst-ionomer aggregates in the ultimate catalyst layer, resulting in more secondary pores and thus lower mass transport resistance. Both the enlarged catalyst/ionomer interface and appropriate pore structure were achieved with the catalyst layer fabricated from an n-PA/H2O mixture with 90 wt % H2O, leading to the best MEA performance.