SANS study of bio-mimicking catalytic layers for Proton Exchange Membranes Fuel Cells
Commercial proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) use Pt as catalyst in the electrodes, but the high price and scarcity of Pt make this technology unsustainable for worldwide energy supply. Pt-free fuel cell catalysts are thus the subject of intense research efforts. We develop new bio-mimicking catalysts supported on a conductive carbon nanotubes network and a state-of-the art ionomer (Nafion). The bio-inspired catalysts are nickel diphosphine complexes mimicking the active site of hydrogenases. Our team has reported high catalytic activity and assembled the first fully Pt-free PEMFC. The electrode microstructure is supposed to be critical to the system performance, but very little is known on the catalyst morphology. Therefore we propose to study catalytic solutions and powders as a function of composition by SANS. We expect to establish the relation between material architecture, ink preparation, electrode processing and final performance of the electrode. The knowledge gained by SANS, taking advantage of the uniqueness of contrast variation to disentangle the various contributions, will help in developing the practical use of a bio-mimicking electrode for fuel cell.
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A. Ghedjatti; CHENEVIER Pascale; GUETAZ Laure; LYONNARD Sandrine and PORCAR Lionel. (2018). SANS study of bio-mimicking catalytic layers for Proton Exchange Membranes Fuel Cells. Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) doi:10.5291/ILL-DATA.9-12-542
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