• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.63-71
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• 2020

It is necessary to fabricate uniformly dispersed nanoscale catalyst materials with high activity and long-term stability for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells with excellent electrochemical characteristics of the oxygen reduction reaction and hydrogen oxidation reaction. Platinum is known as the best noble metal catalyst for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells because of its excellent catalytic activity. However, given that Pt is expensive, considerable efforts have been made to reduce the amount of Pt loading for both anode and cathode catalysts. Meanwhile, the atomic layer deposition (ALD) method shows excellent uniformity and precise particle size controllability over the three-dimensional structure. The research progress on noble metal ALD, such as Pt, Ru, Pd, and various metal alloys, is presented in this review. ALD technology enables the development of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells with excellent reactivity and durability.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.1307-1314
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• 2008

Hydrogen gas is used as a fuel for the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). Trace amount of carbon monoxide present in the reformate $H_2$ gas can poison the anode of the PEMFC. Therefore, preferential oxidation (PROX) of CO is essential for reducing the concentration of CO from a hydrogen-rich reformate gas. In this study, conventional Pt/$Al_2O_3$ catalyst was prepared for the preferential oxidation of CO. The effects of catalyst preparation method, additive, and hydrogen on the performances of PROX reaction of CO were investigated. Water treatment and addition of Ce enhanced catalytic activity of the Pt/$Al_2O_3$ catalyst at low temperature below $100^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.172-175
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• 2001

Nanophase catalyst layer for direct methanol fuel cell has been fabricated by magnetron sputtering method. Catalyst metal targets and carbon were sputtered simultaneously on the Nafion membrane surface at abnormally higher gas (Ar/He mixture) pressure than that of normal thin film processing. They could be coated as a novel structure of catalyst layer containing porous PtRu or Pt and carbon particles both in nanometer range. Membrane electrode assembly made with this layer led to a reduction of the catalyst loading. At the catalyst loading of 1.5mg $PtRu/cm^2$ for anode and 1mg $Pt/cm^2$ for cathode, it could provide $45 mW/cm^2$ in the operation at 2 M methanol, 1 Bar Air at 80"C. It is more than $30\%$ increase of the power density performance at the same level of catalyst loading by conventional method. This was realized due to the ultra fine particle sizes and a large fraction of the atoms lie on the grain boundaries of nanophase catalyst layer and they played an important role of fast catalyst reaction kinetics and more efficient fuel path. Commercialization of direct methanol fuel cell for portable electronic devices is anticipated by the further development of such design.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.523-530
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• 2019

For the low-Pt electrodes for polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEMFCs), the optimization of ionomer content for anode catalyst layers was carried out. A commercial catalyst of 20 wt.% Pt/C was used instead of 50 wt.% Pt/C which is commonly used for PEMFCs. The ionomer content varies from 0.6 to 1.2 based on ionomer to carbon ratio (I/C) and the catalyst layer is formed over the electrolyte by the ultrasonic spray process. Evaluation of the prepared MEA in the unit cell showed that the optimal ionomer content of the air electrode was 0.8 on the I/C basis, while the hydrogen electrode was optimal at the relatively high ionomer content of 1.0. In addition, a large difference in cell performance was observed when the ionomer content of the hydrogen electrode was changed. Increasing the ionomer content from 0.6 to 1.0 by I/C in a hydrogen electrode with 0.05 mg/㎠ platinum loading resulted in more than double cell performance improvements on a 0.6 V. Through the analysis of various electrochemical properties in the single cell, it was assumed that the change in ionomer content of the hydrogen electrode affects the water flow between the hydrogen and air electrodes bounded by the membrane in the cell, which affects the overall performance of the cell. A more specific study will be carried out to understand the water flow mechanism in the future, and this study will show that the optimization process of hydrogen electrode can also be a very important cell design variable for the low-Pt and high-performance MEA.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.286-290
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• 2008

Small amounts of CO in reformate fuel gas effectively block platinum catalysts by strong adsorption on the platinum surface at the operation temperature of $60{\sim}80^{\circ}C$ in PEMFC. To oxidate CO, Ru/C layer (CO filter) was placed between Pt/C layer and GDL (gas diffusion layer) in this study. Ru/C filter provided good CO-tolerant PEMFC anode, but decreased the performance of unit cell about 10% at 0.6 V due to mass transfer resistance from Ru/C filter thickness and increase of charge transfer resistance. Membrane degradation is one of the most important factors limiting the life-time of PEMFCs. Membrane durability would be dependent on the electrode catalyst type. It seemed that Ru catalyst layer would shorten the life time of PEMFC as enhanced the fluoride emission rate of membrane in acceleration test.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.61-72
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• 2009

Fabrication and oxidants production of 3 or 4 components metal oxide electrode, which is known to be so effective to destruct non-biodegradable organics in wastewater, were studied. Five electrode materials (Ru as main component and Pt, Sn, Sb and Gd as minor components) were used for the 3 or 4 components electrode. The metal oxide electrode was prepared by coating the electrode material on the surface of the titanium mesh and then thermal oxidation at $500^{\circ}C$ for 1h. The removed RhB per 2 min and unit W of 3 components electrode was in the order: Ru:Sn:Sb=9:1:1 > Ru:Pt:Gd=5:5:1 > Ru:Sn=9:1 > Ru:Sn:Gd=9:1:1 > Ru:Sb:Gd=9:1:1. Although RhB decolorization of Ru:Sn:Sb:Gd electrode was the highest among the 4 components electrode, the RhB decolorization and oxidants formation of the Ru:Sn:Sb=9:1:1 electrode was higher than that of the 3 and 4 components electrode. Electrogenerated oxidants (free Cl and $ClO_2$) of chlorine type in 3 and 4 components electrode were higher than other oxidants such as $H_2O_2\;and\;O_3$. It was assumed that electrode with high RhB decolorization showed high oxidant generation and COD removal efficiency. OH radical which is electrogenerated by the direct electrolysis was not generated the entire 3 and 4 components electrode, therefore main mechanism of RhB degradation by metal oxide electrode based Ru was considered indirect electrolysis using electrogenerated oxidants.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.367-376
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• 2002

Electrical conduction in $SrZr_{1-x}Y_xO_{3-\delta}$((x=0.05, 0.10)-metal electrode system was investigated by impedance spectroscopy and two-probe d.c. conductivity measurement. Electrode conductivity in anodic direction varies with $P_W^{1/2}$( and that in cathodic direction with $P_{O2}^{1/4}$ in oxidizing atmosphere. In hydrogen atmosphere, the addition of water vapor increased the electrode conductivity both in anodic and cathodic direction. Increasing dopant concentration from 5 to 10% showed a more than four times increase in anodic conduction as well as bulk conduction of the solid electrolyte. This observation implies that unfilled oxygen vacancy concentration increases rapidly as the dopant content increases in humid atmosphere. The activation energy of cathodic conduction in Pt and Ag electrode was nearly same below $800^{\circ}C$ which means the rate of cathodic reaction is determined by the reaction in the electrolyte surface rather than on the metal electrodes.

• Ceramist
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.388-405
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• 2018

In this paper, we review about current development of electrode materials for Li-ion batteries and catalysts for fuel cells. We scrutinized various electrode materials for cathode and anode in Li-ion batteries, which include the materials currently being used in the industry and candidates with high energy density. While layered, spinel, olivine, and rock-salt type inorganic electrode materials were introduced as the cathode materials, the Li metal, graphite, Li-alloying metal, and oxide compound have been discussed for the application to the anode materials. In the development of fuel cell catalysts, the catalyst structures classified according to the catalyst composition and surface structure, such as Pt-based metal nanoparticles, non-Pt catalysts, and carbon-based materials, were discussed in detail. Moreover, various support materials used to maximize the active surface area of fuel cell catalysts were explained. New electrode materials and catalysts with both high electrochemical performance and stability can be developed based on the thorough understanding of earlier studied electrode materials and catalysts.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.12 no.2 s.49
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• pp.117-121
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• 2005

Platinum catalysts for the DMFC (Direct Methanol Fuel Cell) were impregnated on several carbon supports and their catalytic activities were evaluated with cyclic voltammograms of methanol electro-oxidation. To increase the activities of the Pt/C catalyst, carbon supports with high electric conductivity such as mesoporous carbon, carbon nanofiber, and carbon nanotube were employed. The Pt/e-CNF (etched carbon nanofiber) catalyst showed higher maximum current density of $70 mA cm^{-2}$ and lower on-set voltage of 0.54 V vs. NHE than the Pt/Vulcan XC-72 in methanol oxidation. Although the carbon named by CNT (carbon nanotube) series turned out to have larger BET surface area than the carbon named by CNF (carbon nanofiber) series, the Pt catalysts supported on the CNT series were less active than those on the CNF series due to their lower electric conductivity and lower availability of pores for Pt loading. Considering that the BET surface area and electric conductivity of the e-CNF were similar to those of the Vulcan XC-72, smaller Pt particle size of the Pt/e-CNF catalyst and stronger metal-support interaction were believed to be the main reason for its higher catalytic activity.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.314-318
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• 2006

Direct formic acid fuel cells (DFAFCs) are potential alternative power sources for portable devices such as cellular phone, personal digital assistants (PDA) and laptop computers. In this study, we developed the catalysts for great performance of fuel cell, and investigated their characteristics by using EDS and SEM. Pt-Pd catalysts showed uniform size and homogeneous distribution. As the content of palladium increased, the performance of DFAFC increased. Pd black showed the greatest performance among the five catalysts tested. Also, Pt-Pd (1:1) catalyst had an excellent maximum power density of $120mW/cm^2$. As the operating temperature increased, fuel cell performance was increased due to a reaction activity increases of catalyst. But, temperature had only a slight effect on the performance of fuel cell in the best activity range of membrane.