介孔结构Fe/N/C作为质子交换膜燃料电池氧还原催化剂

燃料电池具有高效、低排放等优势,非常有希望作为未来电动汽车的能源转化装置.目前,燃料电池的商业化受制于昂贵的铂基催化剂,特别是动力学迟缓的阴极氧还原反应(ORR)铂催化剂. Fe/N/C被认为是最有潜力的ORR非贵金属催化剂,但其活性仍远低于Pt催化剂,必须依靠增加载量来弥补其与Pt催化剂的活性差距.然而,较厚的催化层(~100mm)会降低阴极传质速率.因此,改善Fe/N/C阴极的传质是提高电池性能的重要途径.
　　本文选择高N含量的2-氨基苯并咪唑(ABI)为氮源,通过水热聚合包覆在碳黑表面,然后掺入FeCl3,经高温热解/酸洗制备了Fe/N/C-ABI催化剂,并与基于间苯二胺的微孔型Fe/N/C催化剂(Fe/N/C-PmPDA)进行比较. Ar等温吸附-脱附结果表明, Fe/N/C-ABI催化剂具有较高的比表面积(662 m2/g)和丰富的双级孔结构(微孔和介孔)；透射电镜表征显示Fe/N/C-ABI催化剂具有中空结构,介孔孔径大约为10–25 nm.而Fe/N/C-PmPDA催化剂具有相当的比表面积(656 m2/g),但以微孔为主,基本不含介孔.旋转环圆盘电极(RRDE)测试表明,在0.1 mol/L H2SO4溶液中, Fe/N/C-ABI催化剂的起始还原电位为0.92 V,在0.8 V电位下质量电流密度可达9.21 A/g；而Fe/N/C-PmPDA催化剂具有相近的起始电位,但具有更高的催化活性,质量电流密度为13.4 A/g.氢氧燃料电池(PEMFC)系统测试结果表明, Fe/N/C-ABI催化剂在1个背压和80oC测试条件下的最大功率密度达710 mW/cm2,高于Fe/N/C-PmPDA催化剂(616 mW/cm2).燃料电池与RRDE测试活性顺序的差异归结于Fe/N/C-ABI的中空球状结构. PEMFC工作时阴极会产生大量的水,很容易堵塞氧气传输通道. Fe/N/C-ABI的介孔结构可以作为水的产生和排除的缓存空间,也有利于提高O2传质,从而提高燃料电池性能.本文为具有高传质速率的Fe/N/C催化剂研制提供了一种新思路.

A mesoporous Fe/N/C ORR catalyst for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

Fe/N/C is a promising non‐platinum catalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Even so, mass transfer remains a challenge in the application of Fe/N/C to proton exchange membrane fuel cells, due to the high catalyst loadings required. In the present work, mesoporous Fe/N/C was syn‐thesized through heat treatment of KJ600 carbon black coated with poly‐2‐aminobenzimidazole and FeCl3. The as‐prepared Fe/N/C possesses a unique hollow‐shell structure that contains a buffer zone allowing both water formation and vaporization, and also facilitates the mass transfer of gas‐eous oxygen. This catalyst generated an oxygen reduction reaction activity of 9.21 A/g in conjunc‐tion with a peak power density of 0.71 W/cm2.