Doped metal oxide electrocatalyst supports with enhanced conductivity

具有增强电导率的掺杂金属氧化物电催化剂载体

• 批准号: RGPIN-2020-05152
• 负责人: Easton, EBradley
• 金额: $ 2.11万
• 依托单位: University of Ontario Institute of Technology
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=765027
• 关键词: Doped; metal; oxide; electrocatalyst; supports

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) are clean, portable power sources powered by hydrogen from secure and renewable sources that produce water and electricity. Current PEMFC technology relies heavily on platinum (Pt) electrocatalysts to drive the anodic and cathodic reactions. Normally, Pt nanoparticles are dispersed onto a high surface carbon support (Pt/C) to maximize the surface area of the catalyst and increase cell performance. While carbon black has been the de facto catalyst support in fuel cell over the last 30 years, it is a liability when it comes to durability since it is prone to corrosion under the highly acidic and oxidative operating conditions of a PEM fuel cell. This is detrimental to the long-term performance of a fuel cell and hinders the longevity of fuel cell devices. Thus, new materials are needed to address these fundamental issues. My lab recently discovered an exciting and entirely new fuel cell catalyst support material. Specifically, his group has invented a conductive metal oxide catalyst support that has the potential to replace the carbon support commonly used in current fuel cell electrodes. This proposal is focused on the study and enhancement of a new reaction whereby we dope low cost metal oxides like titanium dioxide with various metals and semi-metals (e.g. Mo, Si). My lab was the first to discover that doping with silicon (Si) could greatly enhance the conductivity of these metal oxide support materials. These new support materials have extremely high stability to corrosion and remarkable high electronic conductivity, considerably larger than any other metal oxide-based support developed to date. These properties make these supports highly attractive for deployment in fuel cell systems for automotive and stationary power applications. A more stable support that also enhances the performance/stability of the expensive Pt catalyst would revolutionize fuel cells, improving performance and operational lifetimes, thereby enabling greater uptake of fuel cell technology to replace less eco-friendly power sources used in automotive and stationary power applications. Our long-term objectives seek to understand how the presence of the doping elements (e.g Si, Mo) influences the physical properties of the resultant oxide material. Furthermore, I seek to understand how doping influences the electrochemical properties of the support and nanoparticle catalyst particles that are dispersed onto it. To address these questions, my group will create novel metal oxide support materials with different compositions and perform detailed electrochemical studies of these supports and catalysts. Furthermore, the durability of these catalysts will be examined in order to understand how chemical composition and operating conditions influence the stability of these electrode materials so that they can be better used in reliable clean energy technology.

聚合物电解质膜燃料电池（PEMFC）是干净的，便携式的电源，由可产生水和电的安全和可再生能源提供的氢提供动力。当前的PEMFC技术在很大程度上依赖铂（PT）电催化剂来驱动阳极和阴极反应。通常，PT纳米颗粒分散到高表面碳载体（PT/C）上，以最大化催化剂的表面积并增加细胞性能。尽管过去30年来，碳黑色一直是燃料电池中的催化剂支持，但在耐用性方面是一种责任，因为在PEM燃料电池的高度酸性和氧化工作条件下，它容易腐蚀。这不利于燃料电池的长期性能，并阻碍了燃料电池设备的寿命。因此，需要新材料来解决这些基本问题。我的实验室最近发现了一种令人兴奋的全新燃料电池催化剂支持材料。具体而言，他的小组发明了一种导电金属氧化物催化剂支撑，该支撑物有可能替代当前燃料电池电极常用的碳支持。该提案的重点是研究和增强新反应，从而使低成本的金属氧化物（如二氧化钛）具有各种金属和半金属（例如MO，SI）。我的实验室是第一个发现与硅（SI）掺杂可以大大提高这些金属氧化物支撑材料的电导率的人。这些新的支撑材料具有极高的腐蚀和高度电子电导率的稳定性，比迄今为止开发的任何其他基于金属的基于金属的支持。这些属性使这些支持对于在燃料电池系统中的部署方面具有极大的吸引力，用于汽车和固定电源应用。更稳定的支持还可以增强昂贵的PT催化剂的性能/稳定性，将彻底改变燃料电池，改善性能和运营寿命，从而使燃料电池技术更大，从而替代在汽车和固定电源应用中使用的较不友好的环保电源。我们的长期目标试图了解掺杂元素（例如SI，MO）的存在如何影响所得氧化物材料的物理特性。此外，我试图了解兴奋剂如何影响分散在其上的支撑和纳米粒子催化剂颗粒的电化学特性。为了解决这些问题，我的小组将创建具有不同组成的新型金属氧化物支持材料，并对这些支持和催化剂进行详细的电化学研究。此外，将检查这些催化剂的耐用性，以了解化学成分和工作条件如何影响这些电极材料的稳定性，从而可以更好地用于可靠的清洁能源技术。