KR100495127B1 - Catalysts for electrode of fuel cell - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a catalyst for a fuel cell electrode, and more particularly to a fuel cell including a catalyst for four or more fuel cell electrode using a metal and an electrode comprising the catalyst, compared to a catalyst used in a conventional fuel cell. It exhibits excellent methanol oxidation and oxygen reduction characteristics, and can reduce the use of precious metals such as platinum and ruthenium to produce fuel cells at low cost, and thus can be used as an energy source for portable electronic devices and electric vehicles.

Description

Catalyst for Fuel Cell Electrode {CATALYSTS FOR ELECTRODE OF FUEL CELL}

The present invention relates to a catalyst for a fuel cell electrode, and more particularly, to a fuel cell including a catalyst for a fuel cell electrode having four or more components using a metal and an electrode made of the catalyst.

Low-temperature fuel cells using methanol and hydrogen have a higher energy density than batteries and internal combustion engines, which are technically competitive, and are particularly energy-converting systems that can be used for more than 50,000 hours when fuel is supplied. Alternatively, carbon dioxide obtained by reacting hydrogen with water is discharged from the anode, and in the reduction electrode, water obtained by reacting H ⁺ delivered through the electrolyte with H ⁺ is discharged.

The fuel cell having the above characteristics can be used for portable electronic devices or electric vehicles. When used in a portable electronic device can be continuously used conveniently without replacement and charging of the battery, when used in a car has the advantage that the pollution problem can be solved. In addition, since fuel cells are more efficient than any energy conversion mechanisms so far, they are very important in terms of alternative energy for energy exhaustion.

However, despite these advantages, commercialization has not been achieved because the composition of the catalyst, which is the main material of the electrode, is not optimized and the oxidation / reduction reaction does not proceed efficiently. In particular, in the anode of a direct methanol fuel cell supplied with methanol, carbon monoxide in the adsorption state, which is an intermediate of the oxidation process, occupies the active point of the catalyst, so that the deactivation process proceeds rapidly, and the overvoltage required for the reaction increases. In the cathode, the reduction of oxygen is slower than that of methanol, while the unreacted methanol of the anode passes through the electrolyte and causes a depolarization at the cathode, thereby reducing the performance of the fuel cell.

Research is being conducted to solve the technical problem related to the reaction of the electrochemical catalyst by optimizing the composition by imparting the second and third metal elements to platinum, which is a basic catalyst material (first metal). The second and third metals known in the catalyst system for the oxidation of methanol to date are ruthenium (Ru), molybdenum (Mo), tungsten (W), tin (Sn), osmium (Os), and rhodium (Rh). ), Iridium (Ir), cobalt (Co), and the like. In addition, since the oxidation reaction of methanol does not proceed as the cathode catalyst and only the reduction reaction of oxygen has to proceed selectively, ruthenium (Ru), selenium (Se), molybdenum (Mo), etc., in which platinum is not used. Metals were mixed and used. However, these catalysts have basically reduced activity with respect to methanol, but at the same time, there is a disadvantage that it is difficult to use commercially because the activity is too small compared with platinum for the reduction reaction of oxygen.

Accordingly, the present inventors have made an effort to solve the above problems, and as a result, by using a combination chemistry method using an acid-base indicator to search a wide range of catalyst composition in a short time to prepare a catalyst using the optimized four-component metal oxide or more, It was coated on the inorganic support and adhered to the electrolyte and used as an electrode-electrolyte assembly of the fuel cell. The catalyst composed of the four-component metal oxide of the present invention showed superior methanol oxidation and oxygen reduction characteristics as compared to the conventional catalyst, and the electrode was economically The present invention was completed by finding out that it can be prepared.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a fuel cell electrode catalyst made of a metal having four or more components and a fuel cell including the electrode made of the catalyst.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a fuel cell electrode catalyst made of a metal of four or more components and a fuel cell including the electrode made of the catalyst.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail.

The present invention includes a catalyst for a fuel cell electrode made of a metal having four or more components. Specifically, the present invention includes a catalyst for a fuel cell electrode made of at least four metals selected from the group consisting of platinum, ruthenium, molybdenum, tungsten, gold, iron, selenium, cobalt and nickel, more specifically A catalyst for a fuel cell electrode consisting of a primary metal selected from the group consisting of platinum and ruthenium, and at least two metals selected from the group consisting of molybdenum, tungsten, gold, iron, selenium, cobalt and nickel.

In order to optimize the catalyst for the fuel cell through the catalyst composition of the four or more components of the present invention, a wide range of catalyst compositions were searched in a short time using a combination chemistry method using an acid-base indicator, and the optimized catalyst composition group was investigated through a separate experimental method. The catalyst composition was optimized.

The catalyst for a fuel cell electrode consists of an anode catalyst for methanol oxidation and a cathode catalyst for reduction of oxygen.

The anode catalyst is a reaction between methanol and water, preferably 60 to 95 mol% of platinum and / or ruthenium, and at least two or more metals selected from the group consisting of molybdenum, tungsten, gold, cobalt and nickel. It consists of 5-40 mol%. When the content of platinum and / or ruthenium is less than the above range, the methanol oxidation reaction by the catalyst composition of the present invention cannot be improved, and when it exceeds the above range, the economic benefit by the catalyst of the present invention cannot be exhibited. . Most preferably Pt (77) Ru (17) Mo (4) W (2) or Pt (74) Ru (20) Mo (4) W (2) (units in parentheses are mole%).

In addition, the cathode catalyst is reacted with oxygen in the air and H ⁺ delivered through the electrolyte, the composition of the catalyst is 50 to 83 mol% platinum and / or ruthenium, a group consisting of molybdenum, iron and selenium It is preferably composed of at least 17 to 50 mol% of at least two metals selected from the above, wherein the composition exhibits optimum battery performance depending on the degree of diffusion of methanol through the electrolyte. When the content of the platinum and / or ruthenium is less than the above range, it is not possible to exhibit the reducing properties of oxygen by the catalyst composition of the present invention, and if it exceeds the above range, it may not exhibit economic benefits by the catalyst of the present invention. Most preferably Pt (60) Ru (12) Fe (23) Se (5) or Pt (70) Ru (15) Fe (10) Se (5).

The catalyst preparation of the present invention can be prepared using conventional methods in the art, for example, in order to prepare a catalyst, a metal chloride dissolved in distilled water using an inkjet printer was printed on carbon paper, and chemically using NaBH ₄ Or reduce in a hydrogen atmosphere. Hundreds of micromoles of quinine were used as indicators for the detection of the anode, and phonics B was used for reduction.

In addition, the catalyst of the present invention may be used by coating or otherwise applying to a support of conventional particulates of the art. The support may use an inorganic oxide of fine particles such as silica and alumina or carbon such as graphite. The support is preferably 20-30% carbon based on the catalyst composition, with the largest surface area.

The manufacturing method may be used by a conventional method in the art, and for example, after the carbon support solution is first added to the solution of the metal alloy formed by adding a reducing agent to the aqueous metal ion solution to prepare a metal alloy coated on carbon, The solution is stirred to form a slurry. The slurry was left at 75 to 80 ° C. for 1 to 3 days to obtain a dry powder. The dry powder is washed with distilled water.

The present invention also includes a fuel cell including an electrode made of the catalyst for the fuel cell electrode of the four or more components.

As shown in the figure of the present invention, the four-component catalyst consisting of platinum, ruthenium, molybdenum and tungsten shows improved activity and stability compared to widely used platinum and ruthenium catalysts, and also shows constant current experiments and current change experiments. All show excellent performance. In particular, it can be seen that the catalyst according to the present invention can be directly applied to a fuel cell because the results of the unit cell using the same are excellent (see FIGS. 1 to 3 ).

And platinum, ruthenium, of the four-component system consisting of iron and selenium catalyst As can be seen in Figure 4 is supported on a graphite electrode, exhibited excellent characteristics of oxygen reduction than a platinum catalyst which is widely used, if applied to the electrolyte assembly. It can be seen that the catalyst according to the present invention shows less activity for methanol and, optionally, only good activity for oxygen.

As described above, the four-component catalyst of the present invention exhibits excellent methanol oxidation and oxygen reduction characteristics of the fuel cell. By using the catalyst it is possible to manufacture a fuel cell having excellent characteristics.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to Examples.

However, the following examples are merely to illustrate the content of the present invention is not limited to the scope of the present invention.

Example 1 Preparation and Search of Combination Electrochemical Catalyst Arrays

Platinum, ruthenium, molybdenum, tungsten, gold, cobalt and nickel were used for the oxidation reaction of methanol of the present invention. To prepare the array, an inkjet printer was used to print metal chloride dissolved in distilled water on carbon paper. It was chemically reduced with 0.5 M NaBH ₄ , or reduced at 310 ° C. in a hydrogen atmosphere.

Platinum, iron, selenium, ruthenium and molybdenum were used for the cathode reaction of oxygen of the present invention. A more detailed combinatorial search in this regard is specified in Science, 280 (1998) 1735. The indicator used for the detection of the anode was 300 micromoles of quinine, and Phloxine B was used for the detection of the cathode. A conventional three-electrode experiment was conducted using the prepared electrolyte and the array, and fluorescence search was performed accordingly. The composition of the combined composition for the anode and the cathode for which fluorescence was searched is shown in Tables 1 to 6 below. Tables 1 to 3 show a combination composition for searching for an anode and Tables 4 to 6 show a composition for searching for a cathode.

Experimental Example 1 Preparation of Electrochemical Catalyst and Half-Cell Experiment for Oxidation Reaction

Pt (77) Ru (17) Mo (4) W (2), Pt (74) Ru (20) Mo (4) W (2), Pt (82) using the metal salts in the same manner as in Example 1 Ru (18) and Pt (50) Ru (50) were prepared (units in parentheses were% by weight). More specifically, a chemical reduction method of slowly dropping a reducing agent of 0.5 M NaBH ₄ in a metal salt solution dissolved in an aqueous solution at 80 ° C. and pH 8 was used.

The obtained catalyst was deposited on a carbon electrode using a Nafion binder and then used as a working electrode to test the performance of the oxidation reaction half cell. In this case, 0.5 M sulfuric acid and 2 M methanol were used as the electrolyte.

1 is (a) Pt (77) Ru (17) Mo (4) W (2), (b) Pt (74) Ru (20) Mo (4) W (2), (c) Pt (82) Ru (18) and (d) Pt (50) Ru (50) catalysts (molar units in parentheses) were used to measure the change in current density with respect to a constant voltage.

As shown in Fig. 1 , even after an experiment for one hour, the four-component catalyst (a, b) according to the present invention shows almost the same activity as the initial one. These results show that when platinum, ruthenium, molybdenum, and tungsten catalysts are used in fuel cells, they show excellent performance even in long-term operation.

2 is (a) Pt (77) Ru (17) Mo (4) W (2), (b) Pt (74) Ru (20) Mo (4) W (2), (c) Pt (82) Using Ru (18) and (D) Pt (50) Ru (50) catalyst to measure the current density according to the voltage change.

As shown in FIG. 2 , the difference in the open-circuit voltage does not show much according to the type of catalyst, but the four-component catalyst according to the present invention shows excellent activity in the region of 0.45V or less showing low current density. It can be seen that the intermediate poisoning substance of the methanol oxidation reaction is smoothly oxidized and desorbed to restore the active site.

Experimental Example 2 Unit Cell Performance Test of Electrochemical Catalyst

An anode of a direct methanol fuel cell was prepared using the catalyst Pt (77) Ru (17) Mo (4) W (2) and Pt (50) Ru (50) of Experimental Example 1, respectively. An electrolyte-electrode assembly was manufactured using a reduction electrode using Pt. Nafion 15% was added to prepare an anode and Nafion 7% was added to prepare a cathode. In the assembly preparation, two oxidation / reduction electrodes were thermocompressed at 120 ° C. for 2 minutes with a Nafion electrolyte membrane interposed therebetween. The voltage-current of the obtained assembly was measured. At this time, the conditions of the anode are 5 mg / sq.cm, 2 M methanol 2 ml / min, O psig, and the conditions of the reducing electrode are 5 mg / sq.cm, oxygen 500 ml / min, O psig, and operating temperature. Is 40 ° C, and the electrolyte used was Nafion 117.

Figure 3 shows the electrode prepared using the catalyst of (A) Pt (77) Ru (17) Mo (4) W (2) and (B) Pt (50) Ru (50), the electrode-electrolyte assembly This is the result of the unit cell experiment using.

As shown in FIG. 3 , it can be seen that the catalyst according to the present invention exhibits excellent performance even when directly used in a unit cell as well as a half cell experiment.

Experimental Example 3 Preparation of Electrochemical Catalyst and Experiment of Reduction Reaction

Pt (60) Ru (12) Fe (23) Se (5), Pt (70) Ru (15) Fe (10) Se (5), and Pt, respectively, using the metal salts in the same manner as in Example 1. It was supported by Vulcan carbon 50% by weight and prepared under a hydrogen atmosphere of 310 ℃. Pt (50) Ru (50) was used as the oxidation electrode, and the amount of the Nafion binder for cathode production was 25% by weight to prepare an electrolyte-electrode assembly in the same manner as in Experimental Example 2 to evaluate a unit cell. . At this time, the conditions of the anode are 5 mg / sq.cm, 2 M methanol 2 ml / min, O psig, and the conditions of the reducing electrode are 5 mg / sq.cm, oxygen 500 ml / min, O psig, and operating temperature. Is 40 ° C, and the electrolyte used was Nafion 117.

4 is (a) Pt (60) Ru (12) Fe (23) Se (5), (b) Pt (70) Ru (15) Fe (10) Se (5), (C) Pt is graphite It shows the result of using the catalyst supported on the anode of the methanol fuel cell directly.

As shown in FIG. 4 , since the positive electrode of the direct methanol fuel cell is depolarized by methanol transferred from the negative electrode, the performance of the unit cell is reduced. However, the (a) Pt (60) Ru (12) Fe (23) Se (5) catalyst for the positive electrode according to the present invention has a higher open circuit voltage than other catalysts and shows excellent performance even at high current density. As mentioned above, the positive electrode of the direct methanol fuel cell changes its activity depending on the amount of methanol passing through the electrolyte. Therefore, the above composition can be applied to the configuration of the electrode-electrolyte assembly of the present experiment, the composition of the metal proposed by the present invention can be prepared differently depending on the conditions of the electrode-electrolyte assembly that is generally operated.

As described above, the present invention relates to a catalyst for four-component or more fuel cell electrode using a metal and a fuel cell including the catalyst, and exhibits superior methanol oxidation and oxygen reduction characteristics as compared to a catalyst used in a conventional fuel cell. Fuel cells can be manufactured at low cost by reducing the use of precious metals such as platinum, platinum and ruthenium. Accordingly, the fuel cell using the fuel cell catalyst of the present invention in large quantities can be used as an energy supply source for portable electronic devices and electric vehicles.

1 is a graph showing the half cell characteristics of the current change with respect to the constant voltage (0.45 vs. RHE) using the catalyst of the present invention (units in parentheses are mole%);

  (A) Pt (77) Ru (17) Mo (4) W (2),

  (B) Pt (74) Ru (20) Mo (4) W (2),

  (C) Pt (82) Ru (18),

  (D) Pt (50) Ru (50).

2 is a graph showing the anode characteristics of voltage versus current density using the catalyst of the present invention;

  (A) Pt (77) Ru (17) Mo (4) W (2),

  (B) Pt (74) Ru (20) Mo (4) W (2),

  (C) Pt (82) Ru (18),

  (D) Pt (50) Ru (50).

3 is a graph showing a current-voltage curve using an anode catalyst of the present invention;

  (A) Pt (77) Ru (17) Mo (4) W (2),

  (B) Pt (50) Ru (50).

4 is a graph showing a current-voltage curve when the composition of the present invention is used as a cathode electrode.

  (A) Pt (60) Ru (12) Fe (23) Se (5),

  (B) Pt (70) Ru (15) Fe (10) Se (5),

  (C) Pt.

Claims (10)

delete delete delete delete A catalyst for a fuel cell cathode comprising 50 to 83 mol% of platinum and ruthenium and 17 to 50 mol% of iron and selenium. The catalyst for a fuel cell cathode according to claim 5, wherein the catalyst is Pt (60) Ru (12) Fe (23) Se (5). The catalyst for a fuel cell cathode according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the catalyst further comprises an inorganic support. 8. The catalyst for a cathode of a fuel cell according to claim 7, wherein the inorganic support is a carbon support. A fuel cell comprising the catalyst of claim 5 or 6 as a cathode. 10. The catalyst of claim 9, wherein the fuel cell comprises 60 to 95 mol% of platinum and ruthenium and 5 to 40 mol% of at least two metals selected from the group consisting of molybdenum, tungsten, gold, cobalt and nickel. A fuel cell comprising as an anode.