High-performing commercial Fe–N–C cathode electrocatalyst for anion-exchange membrane fuel cells

Adabi, Horie; Shakouri, Abolfazl; Ul Hassan, Noor; Varcoe, John R.; Zulevi, Barr; Serov, Alexey; Regalbuto, John R.; Mustain, William E.

doi:10.1038/s41560-021-00878-7

Title: High-performing commercial Fe–N–C cathode electrocatalyst for anion-exchange membrane fuel cells

Journal Article · 04 August 2021 · Nature Energy

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-021-00878-7 · OSTI ID:2351808

Adabi, Horie ^[1];

^[2]; Ul Hassan, Noor ^[2];

^[3];

^[4];

^[4]; Regalbuto, John R. ^[2];

^[2]

University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC (United States); Pajarito Powder, LLC; tstephenson@pajaritopowder.com
University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC (United States)
University of Surrey, Guildford (United Kingdom)
Pajarito Powder, LLC, Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Here, to reduce the cost of fuel cell stacks and systems, it is important to create commercial catalysts that are free of platinum group metals (PGMs). To do this, such catalysts must have very high activity, but also have the correct microstructure to facilitate the transport of reactants and products. Here, we show a high-performing commercial oxygen reduction catalyst that was specifically developed for operation in alkaline media and is demonstrated in the cathode of operating anion-exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs). With H₂/O₂ reacting gases, AEMFCs made with Fe–N–C cathodes achieved a peak power density exceeding 2 W cm^–2 (>1 W cm^–2 with H₂/air) and operated with very good voltage durability for more than 150 h. These AEMFCs also realized an iR-corrected current density at 0.9 V of 100 mA cm^–2. Finally, in a second configuration, Fe–N–C cathodes paired with low-loading PtRu/C anodes (0.125 mg PtRu per cm², 0.08 mg Pt per cm²) demonstrated a specific power of 10.4 W per mg PGM (16.25 W per mg Pt).

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Cite

Export

Save

Research Organization:: Pajarito Powder, LLC, Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Office of Sustainable Transportation. Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO)

Grant/Contract Number:: EE0008419; EE0008433

OSTI ID:: 2351808

Journal Information:: Nature Energy, Journal Name: Nature Energy Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 6; ISSN 2058-7546

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (44)

In Situ Polymer Graphenization Ingrained with Nanoporosity in a Nitrogenous Electrocatalyst Boosting the Performance of Polymer-Electrolyte-Membrane Fuel Cells Fu, Xiaogang; Zamani, Pouyan; Choi, Ja-Yeon Advanced Materials, Vol. 29, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201604456	journal	December 2016
Achieving High‐Performance and 2000 h Stability in Anion Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells by Manipulating Ionomer Properties and Electrode Optimization Ul Hassan, Noor; Mandal, Mrinmay; Huang, Garrett Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 10, Issue 40 https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.202001986	journal	September 2020
Ionic Liquids as Precursors for Efficient Mesoporous Iron-Nitrogen-Doped Oxygen Reduction Electrocatalysts Li, Zelong; Li, Guanglan; Jiang, Luhua Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Vol. 54, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201409579	journal	December 2014
The Solid-Phase Synthesis of an Fe-N-C Electrocatalyst for High-Power Proton-Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells Liu, Qingtao; Liu, Xiaofang; Zheng, Lirong Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Vol. 57, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201709597	journal	January 2018
Nitrogen-doped Carbon-CoO _x Nanohybrids: A Precious Metal Free Cathode that Exceeds 1.0 W cm ⁻² Peak Power and 100 h Life in Anion-Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells Peng, Xiong; Omasta, Travis J.; Magliocca, Emanuele Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Vol. 58, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201811099	journal	November 2018
The Comparability of Pt to Pt-Ru in Catalyzing the Hydrogen Oxidation Reaction for Alkaline Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells Operated at 80 °C Li, Qihao; Peng, Hanqing; Wang, Yingming Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Vol. 58, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201812662	journal	January 2019
X-ray diffraction patterns of graphite and turbostratic carbon Li, Z. Q.; Lu, C. J.; Xia, Z. P. Carbon, Vol. 45, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2007.03.038	journal	July 2007
Durability challenges and perspective in the development of PGM-free electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction Martinez, Ulises; Komini Babu, Siddharth; Holby, Edward F. Current Opinion in Electrochemistry, Vol. 9 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coelec.2018.04.010	journal	June 2018
Understanding how high-performance anion exchange membrane fuel cells were achieved: Component, interfacial, and cell-level factors Mustain, William E. Current Opinion in Electrochemistry, Vol. 12 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coelec.2018.11.010	journal	December 2018
Direct synthesis of platinum group metal-free Fe-N-C catalyst for oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline media Gokhale, Rohan; Chen, Yechuan; Serov, Alexey Electrochemistry Communications, Vol. 72 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elecom.2016.09.013	journal	November 2016
A mini-review on anion exchange membranes for fuel cell applications: Stability issue and addressing strategies Cheng, Jie; He, Gaohong; Zhang, Fengxiang International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 40, Issue 23 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2015.04.040	journal	June 2015
Nitrogen doped porous carbon with iron promotion for oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline and acidic media Yan, Zaoxue; Dai, Chengjing; Zhang, Mingmei International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 44, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2018.12.180	journal	February 2019
Importance of balancing membrane and electrode water in anion exchange membrane fuel cells Omasta, T. J.; Wang, L.; Peng, X. Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 375 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2017.05.006	journal	January 2018
Review of cell performance in anion exchange membrane fuel cells Dekel, Dario R. Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 375 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2017.07.117	journal	January 2018
Experimental Methods for Quantifying the Activity of Platinum Electrocatalysts for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction Garsany, Yannick; Baturina, Olga A.; Swider-Lyons, Karen E. Analytical Chemistry, Vol. 82, Issue 15 https://doi.org/10.1021/ac100306c	journal	August 2010
Alkaline Anion-Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells: Challenges in Electrocatalysis and Interfacial Charge Transfer Ramaswamy, Nagappan; Mukerjee, Sanjeev Chemical Reviews, Vol. 119, Issue 23 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemrev.9b00157	journal	November 2019
High Power Density Platinum Group Metal-free Cathodes for Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells Uddin, Aman; Dunsmore, Lisa; Zhang, Hanguang ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Vol. 12, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.9b13945	journal	December 2019
Determination of the Electron Transfer Number for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction: From Theory to Experiment Zhou, Ruifeng; Zheng, Yao; Jaroniec, Mietek ACS Catalysis, Vol. 6, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.6b01581	journal	June 2016
Electrocatalysts for Hydrogen Oxidation Reaction in Alkaline Electrolytes Davydova, Elena S.; Mukerjee, Sanjeev; Jaouen, Frédéric ACS Catalysis, Vol. 8, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.8b00689	journal	May 2018
Catalytic Advantages, Challenges, and Priorities in Alkaline Membrane Fuel Cells Firouzjaie, Horie Adabi; Mustain, William E. ACS Catalysis, Vol. 10, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.9b03892	journal	November 2019
High-Loading Composition-Tolerant Co–Mn Spinel Oxides with Performance beyond 1 W/cm ² in Alkaline Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells Yang, Yao; Peng, Hanqing; Xiong, Yin ACS Energy Letters, Vol. 4, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1021/acsenergylett.9b00597	journal	May 2019
Design of N-Coordinated Dual-Metal Sites: A Stable and Active Pt-Free Catalyst for Acidic Oxygen Reduction Reaction Wang, Jing; Huang, Zhengqing; Liu, Wei Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol. 139, Issue 48 https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.7b10385	journal	November 2017
Alloys of platinum and early transition metals as oxygen reduction electrocatalysts Greeley, J.; Stephens, I. E. L.; Bondarenko, A. S. Nature Chemistry, Vol. 1, Issue 7, p. 552-556 https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.367	journal	September 2009
Activity targets for nanostructured platinum-group-metal-free catalysts in hydroxide exchange membrane fuel cells Setzler, Brian P.; Zhuang, Zhongbin; Wittkopf, Jarrid A. Nature Nanotechnology, Vol. 11, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2016.265	journal	December 2016
Using operando techniques to understand and design high performance and stable alkaline membrane fuel cells Peng, Xiong; Kulkarni, Devashish; Huang, Ying Nature Communications, Vol. 11, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-17370-7	journal	July 2020
Fe–N–C electrocatalyst with dense active sites and efficient mass transport for high-performance proton exchange membrane fuel cells Wan, Xin; Liu, Xiaofang; Li, Yongcheng Nature Catalysis, Vol. 2, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41929-019-0237-3	journal	March 2019
Preparation of radiation-grafted powders for use as anion exchange ionomers in alkaline polymer electrolyte fuel cells Poynton, Simon D.; Slade, Robert C. T.; Omasta, Travis J. J. Mater. Chem. A, Vol. 2, Issue 14 https://doi.org/10.1039/C4TA00558A	journal	January 2014
Fe–N-Doped carbon foam nanosheets with embedded Fe ₂ O ₃ nanoparticles for highly efficient oxygen reduction in both alkaline and acidic media Xu, Xueyan; Shi, Chengxiang; Li, Qi RSC Advances, Vol. 7, Issue 24 https://doi.org/10.1039/C6RA27826D	journal	January 2017
2D Layered non-precious metal mesoporous electrocatalysts for enhanced oxygen reduction reaction Huo, Lili; Liu, Baocang; Zhang, Geng Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Vol. 5, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1039/C6TA10261A	journal	January 2017
Non-fluorinated pre-irradiation-grafted (peroxidated) LDPE-based anion-exchange membranes with high performance and stability Wang, Lianqin; Brink, Jethro J.; Liu, Ye Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 10, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1039/C7EE02053H	journal	January 2017
Platinum group metal-free NiMo hydrogen oxidation catalysts: high performance and durability in alkaline exchange membrane fuel cells Kabir, Sadia; Lemire, Kenneth; Artyushkova, Kateryna Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Vol. 5, Issue 46 https://doi.org/10.1039/C7TA08718G	journal	January 2017
Beyond catalysis and membranes: visualizing and solving the challenge of electrode water accumulation and flooding in AEMFCs Omasta, Travis J.; Park, Andrew M.; LaManna, Jacob M. Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 11, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1039/C8EE00122G	journal	January 2018
A high conductivity ultrathin anion-exchange membrane with 500+ h alkali stability for use in alkaline membrane fuel cells that can achieve 2 W cm ⁻² at 80 °C Wang, Lianqin; Bellini, Marco; Miller, Hamish A. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Vol. 6, Issue 31 https://doi.org/10.1039/C8TA04783A	journal	January 2018
Radiation-grafted anion-exchange membranes: the switch from low- to high-density polyethylene leads to remarkably enhanced fuel cell performance Wang, Lianqin; Peng, Xiong; Mustain, William E. Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 12, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1039/C9EE00331B	journal	January 2019
A low-loading Ru-rich anode catalyst for high-power anion exchange membrane fuel cells Tatus-Portnoy, Zhanna; Kitayev, Anna; Vineesh, Thazhe Veettil Chemical Communications, Vol. 56, Issue 42 https://doi.org/10.1039/D0CC00008F	journal	January 2020
Durability challenges of anion exchange membrane fuel cells Mustain, William E.; Chatenet, Marian; Page, Miles Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 13, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1039/D0EE01133A	journal	January 2020
Hydrogen Oxidation and Evolution Reaction Kinetics on Platinum: Acid vs Alkaline Electrolytes Sheng, Wenchao; Gasteiger, Hubert A.; Shao-Horn, Yang Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 157, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1149/1.3483106	journal	January 2010
Perspective—The Next Decade of AEMFCs: Near-Term Targets to Accelerate Applied R&D Thompson, Simon T.; Peterson, David; Ho, Donna Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 167, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1149/1945-7111/ab8c88	journal	May 2020
High Performance FeNC and Mn-oxide/FeNC Layers for AEMFC Cathodes Santori, Pietro Giovanni; Speck, Florian Dominik; Cherevko, Serhiy Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 167, Issue 13 https://doi.org/10.1149/1945-7111/abb7e0	journal	September 2020
The Importance of Water Transport in High Conductivity and High-Power Alkaline Fuel Cells Mandal, Mrinmay; Huang, Garrett; Hassan, Noor Ul Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 167, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1149/2.0022005JES	journal	October 2019
High-Performance Hydroxide Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells through Optimization of Relative Humidity, Backpressure and Catalyst Selection Wang, Teng; Shi, Lin; Wang, Junhua Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 166, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1149/2.0361907jes	journal	January 2019
Composite Poly(norbornene) Anion Conducting Membranes for Achieving Durability, Water Management and High Power (3.4 W/cm ² ) in Hydrogen/Oxygen Alkaline Fuel Cells Huang, Garrett; Mandal, Mrinmay; Peng, Xiong Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 166, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1149/2.1301910jes	journal	January 2019
Strategies for Reducing the PGM Loading in High Power AEMFC Anodes Omasta, Travis J.; Zhang, Yufeng; Park, Andrew M. Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 165, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1149/2.1401809jes	journal	January 2018
High-Performing PGM-Free AEMFC Cathodes from Carbon-Supported Cobalt Ferrite Nanoparticles Peng, Xiong; Kashyap, Varchaswal; Ng, Benjamin Catalysts, Vol. 9, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.3390/catal9030264	journal	March 2019

Similar Records

Multi-atom Pt and PtRu catalysts for high performance AEMFCs with ultra-low PGM content

Journal Article · 2023 · Applied Catalysis. B, Environmental · OSTI ID:2418627

Adabi, Horie; Shakouri, Abolfazl; Zitolo, Andrea; +8 more

Understanding how single-atom site density drives the performance and durability of PGM-free Fe–N–C cathodes in anion exchange membrane fuel cells

Journal Article · 2021 · Materials Today Advances · OSTI ID:1977473

Adabi, Horie; Santori, Pietro Giovanni; Shakouri, Abolfazl; +12 more

Nitrogen‐doped Carbon–CoO _x Nanohybrids: A Precious Metal Free Cathode that Exceeds 1.0 W cm ⁻² Peak Power and 100 h Life in Anion‐Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

Journal Article · 2018 · Angewandte Chemie (International Edition) · OSTI ID:1494649

Peng, Xiong; Omasta, Travis J.; Magliocca, Emanuele; +3 more

Related Subjects

25 ENERGY STORAGE
Chemical engineering
Fuel cells

Title: High-performing commercial Fe–N–C cathode electrocatalyst for anion-exchange membrane fuel cells

Citation Formats

References (44)

Similar Records

Related Subjects