Facile synthesis of hybrid nano-alloy catalysts for fuel cell electrodes

In order to solve the environmental problem, there are growing interests in the use of clean energy. Hydrogen fuel cells have been widely touted as an environmentally-friendly alternative to conventional fossil fuels and they... [ view full abstract ]

In order to solve the environmental problem, there are growing interests in the use of clean energy. Hydrogen fuel cells have been widely touted as an environmentally-friendly alternative to conventional fossil fuels and they are expected to become one of the major power resources using hydrogen energy. Hydrogen fuel cells are a clean, reliable, quiet, and efficient source of high-quality electric power. They use hydrogen as a fuel to drive an electrochemical process that produces electricity, with water and heat as the only by-products. However, high cost of electrode materials is a bottle neck to commercialization of the system. In the case of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC), Pt catalyst with high performance and long-term stability is essentially needed. We have developed new synthesis techniques of hybrid nano-alloy catalysts using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique. The alloy catalysts synthesized by single-step CVD or sequential CVD processes showed higher performance with long-term stability compared to commercial Pt/C catalysts. These techniques for the synthesis of bimetallic nano-alloys are efficient for the quick, simple and easy synthesis of optimal catalytic structure.

Acknowledgment. This work was supported by the Research and Development Program of Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER/B6-2452, B7-2417-01).