University of California, Riverside R & D team developed an economical and efficient Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (Polymer Electrolyte Membrane, PEM) fuel cell catalyst materials, the fuel cell hydrogen chemical energy into electricity, is the most automotive and electronic products One of the promising fuel cell types.
The key component of the most common fuel cell is a catalyst made of noble metal platinum, therefore its expensive production costs limit the large-scale use of fuel cells.The catalyst developed by UCR is made of porous carbon nanofibers embedded with compounds containing Relatively rich metals, such as cobalt, cost 100 times more than platinum.
Currently, fuel cells have been adopted by some car manufacturers and offer advantages over traditional fuel technologies, including high efficiency, low noise and low emissions, and hydrogen fuel cell effluents, which are water. In hydrogen fuel cells, when When hydrogen fuel is injected into the cell anode, the catalyst separates the hydrogen molecules into positively charged particles called protons and negatively charged particles.The electrons are led through an external circuit before re-adding the positively charged hydrogen ions and oxygen to form water, and at This does useful work, such as powering the motor.
In addition, UCR researchers fabricate sheets of carbon nanofiber paper containing metal ions (cobalt, iron or nickel) using electro spinning techniques.On heating, the ions form ultrafine metal nanoparticles that catalyze carbon conversion Is high-performance graphitic carbon.Next, the metal nanoparticles and the residual non-graphitic carbon are oxidized, resulting in a highly porous and useful network of metal oxide nanoparticles dispersed in the porous network of graphite.
The study, led by David Kisailus, professor at the Burns School of Engineering, Riverside, UCSB, Kisailus and his team, is working with scientists at Stanford University to confirm that new materials perform as well as the industry standard platinum-carbon system, And its cost is relatively low.
Kisailus said another advantage of the nanocomposite catalytic material is its graphite fiber, which provides additional strength and durability to both serve as a fuel cell catalyst and as a structural component. An important challenge is to reduce body weight and the extra weight of a battery or fuel cell without compromising on safety or performance.The materials we manufacture combine chemical and fiber processing conditions that may enable a car manufacturer to attach a hood or chassis Other structural components into functional components that help power the vehicle.
