Critical role of carbon support in metal nanoaggregate facilitating Fe-N-C catalyst for PEM fuel cell application  

作　　者：Liming Guo Xin Wan Qingtao Liu Xiaofang Liu Jiaxiang Shang Ronghai Yu Jianglan Shui 

机构地区：[1]School of Materials Science and Engineering,Beihang University,Beijing 100191,China [2]Tianmushan Laboratory,Hangzhou 310023,Zhejiang,China

出　　处：《Journal of Energy Chemistry》2024年第10期669-676,I0014,共9页能源化学（英文版）

基　　金：supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Beijing Municipality (Z200012);the National Natural Science Foundation of China (U21A20328,22225903);the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2021YFB4000601)。

摘　　要：Metal nanoaggregates can simultaneously enhance the activity and stability of Fe-N-C catalysts in proton-exchange-membrane fuel cells(PEMFC).Previous studies on the relevant mechanism have focused on the direct interaction between FeN_(4)active sites and metal nanoaggregates.However,the role of carbon support that hosts metal nanoaggregates and active sites has been overlooked.Here,a Fe-N-C catalyst encapsulating inactive gold nanoparticles is prepared as a model catalyst to investigate the electronic tuning of Au nanoparticles(NPs)towards the carbon support.Au NPs donate electrons to carbon support,making it rich inπelectrons,which reduces the work function and regulates the electronic configuration of the FeN_(4)sites for an enhanced ORR activity.Meanwhile,the electron-rich carbon support can mitigate the electron depletion of FeN_(4)sites caused by carbon support oxidation,thereby preserving its high activity.The yield and accumulation of H_(2)O_(2)are thus alleviated,which delays the oxidation of the catalyst and benefits the stability.Due to the electron-rich carbon support,the composite catalyst achieves a top-level peak power density of 0.74 W/cm^(2) in a 1.5 bar H_(2)-air PEMFC,as well as the improved stability.This work elucidates the key role of carbon support in the performance enhancement of the FeN-C/metal nanoaggregate composite catalysts for fuel cell application.

关 键 词：Fuel cells Oxygen reduction reaction Fe-N-C Hetero-structure catalyst Carbon support 

分 类 号：TQ426[化学工程] TM911.4[电气工程—电力电子与电力传动]