Geoff Waterhouse (University of Auckland) with Shane Telfer (Massey University), and Paul Kruger (University of Canterbury) affiliated with the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology and international collaborators (North China Electric Power University, Zhejiang University, University of North Texas)
Fuel cells play a critical role in decarbonizing our economy because they are an energy carrier that can be stored, moved, and can fuel industries that are otherwise difficult to decarbonize.
Methanol fuel cells in particular offer high energy density and easier storage and transportation than hydrogen. When produced with renewable electricity, they emit less greenhouse gases than fossil fuels.
Rechargeable metal-air batteries rely on the oxygen reduction reaction at the cathode for energy conversion. Catalysts like platinum are used to improve the efficiency of the reaction, however due to their cost and scarcity, alternative materials are needed to scale up the use of this technology.
Iron-based catalysts which can be produced at large scale were characterised using the X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) beamline. The catalysts were tested for performance and durability over 5,000 cycles and met or exceeded the oxygen reduction (ORR) activity of a commercial platinum-based catalyst.
When methanol was inducted to assess the fuel crossover effect, the activity of the commercial platinum product diminished immediately, but the new iron-based catalyst showed outstanding tolerance.
The research demonstrated that a high-performing iron-based catalyst can be produced at largescale for fuel cell oxygen reduction reaction. These characteristics make it an excellent all-round catalyst for the ORR reduction.
Reference:
Yang H, Liu Y, Liu X, Wang X, Tian H, Waterhouse GIN, Kruger PE, Telfer SG, Ma S. 2022. Large-scale synthesis of N-doped carbon capsules supporting atomically dispersed iron for efficient oxygen reduction reaction electrocatalysis. eScience 2(2):227-234. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esci.2022.02.005
