- Email: [email protected]
Korean–US team show porphyrin-based catalysts beat Pt-based
NEWS it announced a long-term, definitive master agreement with Honda in Japan to co-develop a next-generation fuel cell system and hydrogen storage technologies in the 2020 time frame [FCB, July 2013, p2]. GM’s Project Driveway programme, launched in 2007, has accumulated nearly 3 million miles of real-world driving in a fleet of 119 hydrogen-powered vehicles [FCB, April 2010, p2]. GM has previously worked with TARDEC, including supplying the world’s first military fleet of 16 hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles for evaluation by the US Army Pacific Command in Honolulu, Hawaii [FCB, March 2012, p2]. GM is currently building a new Fuel Cell Development Laboratory in Pontiac, Michigan where most of the automaker’s fuel cell development work will take place in future [FCB, November 2012, p11]. TARDEC and GM’s respective fuel cell laboratories are about 20 miles (32 km) apart, which will greatly promote daily collaboration, and GM and TARDEC engineers are developing extensive plans to share physical material and data between the locations. TARDEC opened a new Fuel Cell Research Laboratory located in the recently opened Ground System Power and Energy Laboratory building in Warren, Michigan. The state-of-the-art facility enables TARDEC to test and integrate the fuel cell systems it has been developing for military applications for more than a decade, including using solid oxide fuel cells supplied by Ultra Electronics AMI to power unmanned ground vehicles [FCB, May 2012, p4]. TARDEC is also working with the US Army Research Lab and the Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center (CERDEC) to develop portable systems to convert JP-8 logistic fuel to hydrogen [see page 5]. General Motors: http://tinyurl.com/gm-emerging-tech US Army Tank Automotive Research, Development & Engineering Center: http://tardec.army.mil
Korean–US team show porphyrin-based catalysts beat Pt-based
R
esearchers from Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) in Korea, the Korea Institute of Energy Research, and Brookhaven National Laboratory in the US have discovered a new family of nonprecious metal catalysts. These
October 2013
catalysts exhibit better performance than platinum in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), with only 10% of the production cost of a Pt catalyst. The UNIST research team has found a new family of non-precious metal catalysts based on ordered mesoporous porphyrinic carbons (M-OMPC) with high surface areas and tunable pore structures. Porphyrins are a class of heterocyclic compounds containing four pyrrole rings in a square. The finding, reported in Scientific Reports from Nature, is an important step towards overcoming the high cost and instability of Pt catalysts for oxygen reduction at the cathode, which have impeded commercialisation of PEM fuel cells. ‘Our synthetic strategy for the nonprecious metal catalysts included a multitude of advantages that would be favourable to [PEMFC] applications,’ says Professor Sang Hoon Joo in UNIST’s School of NanoBioscience and Chemical Engineering, who led the research. ‘First, our synthetic method is amenable to simple and mild experimental conditions. Second, the synthesis of the M-OMPC catalysts could be readily scaled up to a few tens of grammes in a single batch. Third, well developed, hierarchical micro-mesoporosity would be advantageous for efficient transport of fuels and by-products. Finally, the M-OMPC catalysts showed very high surface areas, which could significantly increase the density of the catalytically active sites accessible to reactants.’ The materials developed by the UNIST team were prepared by nanocasting ordered mesoporous silica (OMS) templates with metalloporphyrin precursors. In addition, they were constructed with 3D networks of porphyrinic carbon frameworks. The best M-OMPC catalyst showed an extremely high electrocatalytic activity for ORR in an acidic media. Its ORR activity is one of the best yet reported among nonprecious metal catalysts, and even higher than the state-of-the-art Pt catalyst. In addition, FeCo-OMPC showed superior long-term durability and methanol tolerance in ORR, compared to the Pt catalyst. The researchers attributed the high ORR activity of FeCoOMPC to its relatively weak interaction with oxygen, as well as the high surface area design of the catalyst. Contact: Professor Sang Hoon Joo, Department of Chemistry, School of Nano-Bioscience and Chemical Engineering, UNIST, Ulsan, Republic of Korea. Tel: +82 52 217 2522, Email: [email protected], Web: http://shjoo.unist.ac.kr Journal paper: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep02715 [open access]
IN BRIEF PNNL team creates hydrogen safety app Researchers at the US Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (www. pnnl.gov) have developed a free app focused on hydrogen safety. ‘With hydrogen being deployed in a greater number of applications, it’s the perfect time to make a safety tool like this app broadly available,’ says PNNL project manager Nick Barilo. ‘Many people are unfamiliar with the technology, and this app is intended to make the information they need available at their fingertips.’ The Hydrogen Tools app – available in the Apple App Store (https://itunes.apple.com/ app/id692196514) – incorporates a variety of resources and web-based content to help those involved in designing, approving, or using hydrogen fuel cell systems and facilities. It includes information about hydrogen ventilation, safe distances and storage pressures, and best practices for safe handling. Fuel cell standards for ICT infrastructure The US Telecommunications Industry Association (www.tiaonline.org) has created an Exploratory Focus Group on Fuel Cell Standards for Wireless and Other Critical Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Infrastructure. The aim of the group is to provide a forum for fuel cell companies, mobile network operators, cell site leasing companies, engineering firms, government entities, and others to develop a document that can provide the ICT industry with a guide to the technical considerations and benefits of fuel cell deployment. The group will develop a comprehensive understanding of fuel cell codes for both stationary and mobile fuel cells for specific use with telecom, wireless, data communications, emergency 911, police radio, security and surveillance, and catastrophic infrastructure for commercial, military, or residential use at ground level, on rooftop, or on platforms for backup, supplemental and/or alternative electric power sources. Current participants include Altergy, Ballard Power Systems, Burns & McDonnell, the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, ReliOn, Sprint-Nextel, Trulite, and VP Energy. Motorbike adds exhaust power by SOFC Atsumitec (www.atsumitec.co.jp/en/) in Japan has unveiled a motorbike that combines a small solid oxide fuel cell with thermoelectric conversion elements, to generate additional energy from unreacted hydrogen and hydrocarbons and heat in the exhaust gas stream of an internal combustion engine powered Honda motorcycle. The ‘Synergy Cell’ can generate 200 W of additional power, which improves mileage by 2–3%.
Fuel Cells Bulletin
9
Korean–US team show porphyrin-based catalysts beat Pt-based
R
esearchers from Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) in Korea, the Korea Institute of Energy Research, and Brookhaven National Laboratory in the US have discovered a new family of nonprecious metal catalysts. These
October 2013
catalysts exhibit better performance than platinum in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), with only 10% of the production cost of a Pt catalyst. The UNIST research team has found a new family of non-precious metal catalysts based on ordered mesoporous porphyrinic carbons (M-OMPC) with high surface areas and tunable pore structures. Porphyrins are a class of heterocyclic compounds containing four pyrrole rings in a square. The finding, reported in Scientific Reports from Nature, is an important step towards overcoming the high cost and instability of Pt catalysts for oxygen reduction at the cathode, which have impeded commercialisation of PEM fuel cells. ‘Our synthetic strategy for the nonprecious metal catalysts included a multitude of advantages that would be favourable to [PEMFC] applications,’ says Professor Sang Hoon Joo in UNIST’s School of NanoBioscience and Chemical Engineering, who led the research. ‘First, our synthetic method is amenable to simple and mild experimental conditions. Second, the synthesis of the M-OMPC catalysts could be readily scaled up to a few tens of grammes in a single batch. Third, well developed, hierarchical micro-mesoporosity would be advantageous for efficient transport of fuels and by-products. Finally, the M-OMPC catalysts showed very high surface areas, which could significantly increase the density of the catalytically active sites accessible to reactants.’ The materials developed by the UNIST team were prepared by nanocasting ordered mesoporous silica (OMS) templates with metalloporphyrin precursors. In addition, they were constructed with 3D networks of porphyrinic carbon frameworks. The best M-OMPC catalyst showed an extremely high electrocatalytic activity for ORR in an acidic media. Its ORR activity is one of the best yet reported among nonprecious metal catalysts, and even higher than the state-of-the-art Pt catalyst. In addition, FeCo-OMPC showed superior long-term durability and methanol tolerance in ORR, compared to the Pt catalyst. The researchers attributed the high ORR activity of FeCoOMPC to its relatively weak interaction with oxygen, as well as the high surface area design of the catalyst. Contact: Professor Sang Hoon Joo, Department of Chemistry, School of Nano-Bioscience and Chemical Engineering, UNIST, Ulsan, Republic of Korea. Tel: +82 52 217 2522, Email: [email protected], Web: http://shjoo.unist.ac.kr Journal paper: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep02715 [open access]
IN BRIEF PNNL team creates hydrogen safety app Researchers at the US Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (www. pnnl.gov) have developed a free app focused on hydrogen safety. ‘With hydrogen being deployed in a greater number of applications, it’s the perfect time to make a safety tool like this app broadly available,’ says PNNL project manager Nick Barilo. ‘Many people are unfamiliar with the technology, and this app is intended to make the information they need available at their fingertips.’ The Hydrogen Tools app – available in the Apple App Store (https://itunes.apple.com/ app/id692196514) – incorporates a variety of resources and web-based content to help those involved in designing, approving, or using hydrogen fuel cell systems and facilities. It includes information about hydrogen ventilation, safe distances and storage pressures, and best practices for safe handling. Fuel cell standards for ICT infrastructure The US Telecommunications Industry Association (www.tiaonline.org) has created an Exploratory Focus Group on Fuel Cell Standards for Wireless and Other Critical Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Infrastructure. The aim of the group is to provide a forum for fuel cell companies, mobile network operators, cell site leasing companies, engineering firms, government entities, and others to develop a document that can provide the ICT industry with a guide to the technical considerations and benefits of fuel cell deployment. The group will develop a comprehensive understanding of fuel cell codes for both stationary and mobile fuel cells for specific use with telecom, wireless, data communications, emergency 911, police radio, security and surveillance, and catastrophic infrastructure for commercial, military, or residential use at ground level, on rooftop, or on platforms for backup, supplemental and/or alternative electric power sources. Current participants include Altergy, Ballard Power Systems, Burns & McDonnell, the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, ReliOn, Sprint-Nextel, Trulite, and VP Energy. Motorbike adds exhaust power by SOFC Atsumitec (www.atsumitec.co.jp/en/) in Japan has unveiled a motorbike that combines a small solid oxide fuel cell with thermoelectric conversion elements, to generate additional energy from unreacted hydrogen and hydrocarbons and heat in the exhaust gas stream of an internal combustion engine powered Honda motorcycle. The ‘Synergy Cell’ can generate 200 W of additional power, which improves mileage by 2–3%.
Fuel Cells Bulletin
9