Advanced Highly Efficient Cells Based on Designer Catalysts
Abstract
Catalysis has become the key in solving challenges of developing new energy resources withimproved efficiency and sustainability wh"ile dramatically reducing environmental impact. Inparticular, dramatically improved fuel cells catalysts are essential to enable th""e conversion ofautomobiles from fossil energy based technologies to fuel cells. In particular, polymer electrolytemembrane fuel ce"lls (PEMFC) using hydrogen as a fuel could provide alternative clean powersources for zero-emission transportation and stationery a"pplications. In addition, fuel cells cangenerate power in the range of mW to MW. This versatility makes them suitable for a broad r""angeof applications, such as portable devices and vehicles, helpful in increasing human and systemefficiencies for naval operation"".However, the slow kinetics of the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) at the cathode combinedwith the high cost of Pt catalysts, has" made the costs far too high for broad dissemination of fuelcells. While due to intensive efforts various catalysts have been devel"oped and demonstrated greatpotential for fuel cell application, the state of the art designer catalysts are typically evaluated wit""hthe half-cell, typically rotating disk electrode (RDE) setup, setting. The full cell based evaluations,challenged primarily by sc"ale-up synthesis of these designer catalysts and correspondingly furtheroptimization and design of catalytic materials targeting pr"actical setting, are critically needed tomove the field forward but severely lacking. To effectively address these challenges and m""ove thefuel cell technology critically forward, this project bring together an interdisciplinary teamencompassing four synergistic" Thrust areas. Thrust 1: Design and synthesis of nanoscale catalystwith atomically precise composition and intricate structure for" exceptional activity and chemicalrobustness, in both experimental and practical settings. (Huang). Thrust 2: Design, synthesis and"assembly of unique carbon support that can facilitate mass transport with fuel cell catalyst layerand explore potentially noble me"tal free catalysts. (Duan) Thrust 3: Atomic scale characterization,understanding and correlation between the catalyst composition," structure and the chemicalfunctionalities under fuel cell operation conditions. (Jia). Thrust 4: Use multiscale models tocapture and understand the fundamental nanoscale interactions at the level of quantum mechanics(limited to 100s of atoms) through the range of 10 to 100s of nm constituting the important scalesunderlying the fundamental performance determinant to the scale of optimizin"g the fuel cellperformance. This will enable the design of new materials and approaches, and enable theexperiments to focus on the"" best predicted candidates. (Goddard)Together, we expect these efforts will contribute significantly to the development of full cel""lsthat can provide performance far exceeding current technology, and provides much more accurateand practical information to guide" the further development and optimization of novel catalyticmaterials for actual device applications. This project will also contribute to the education andtraining of the next generation of individuals ready to meet the challenges of the 21st centuryincluding maintaining a competitive advantage for US energy safety.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Feb 20, 2018
- Source ID
- N000141812155
Entities
People
- Yu Huang
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of California, Los Angeles