Durable Mn-Based PGM-Free Catalysts for Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells

Technical Report · Mon Nov 29 00:00:00 EST 2021

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1839624· OSTI ID:1839624

Xu, Hui ^[1]; Macauley, Natalia ^[1]; Wu, Gang ^[2]; Wang, Guofeng ^[3]; Kongkanand, Anusorn ^[4]

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1. Giner, Inc., Newton, MA (United States)
2. State Univ. of New York (SUNY), Buffalo, NY (United States)
3. Univ. of Pittsburgh, PA (United States)
4. General Motors LLC, Detroit, MI (United States)

This proposed project aims to develop and evaluate novel manganese based, nitrogen-derived, PGM-free electrocatalysts (denoted as Mn-N-C) to fully address the membrane electrolyte assemblies (MEA)’s ionomer degradation issue resulting from iron. Four thrusts will be pursed in this proposed project. First, advanced first-principles computation methods will be employed to accelerate the rational catalyst design and synthesis. Second, an effective hydro-gel method will be used to maximize atomic Mn active sites embedded in carbon matrix. Next, state-of-the art methods in fuel cell companies will be used to fabricate MEAs containing the Mn-N-C catalysts. Finally, industry standards will be rigorously followed to evaluate fuel cell performance and durability of the Mn-N-C catalysts. With successful completion of the project, it is expected that the following outcomes will be achieved. (1) A set of MEAs containing the Mn-N-C catalysts and with active area large than 50 cm² for independent testing, (2) testing results demonstrating that the MEAs of Mn-N-C catalysts have mass activity of 0.044 A/cm² at 0.9 VIR-free and H₂/air performance of 0.50 V at 1.0 A/cm²; (3) fundamental understanding of the composition-structure-property relation of the PGM-free Mn- N-C catalysts, and (4) computational data, measurement data, and publications deposited into the database of ElectroCat Consortium.

• Research Organization: Giner, Inc., Newton, MA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Office of Sustainable Transportation. Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO); USDOE Office of Science (SC)
• DOE Contract Number: EE0008075
• OSTI ID: 1839624
• Report Number(s): DOE-GINER-8075; 10124
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

08 HYDROGEN
non-precious metal
catalyst
manganese nitrogen doped carbon
metal-organic framework
single atom site
fuel-cell
cathode
synthesis