The development of clean and sustainable renewable energy is able to address the challenges associated with the rapidly increasing global energy demand and possible climate changes caused by carbon dioxide emission. Among available energy conversion technologies, proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), which directly convert the chemical energy of fuels to electricity, have been widely considered a clean energy technology due to their high efficiency, high power density, environmental friendliness, and high reliability. However, several challenges must be overcome before large-scale commercialization of PEMFCs can be realized, such as high costs, insufficient durability, and hydrogen fuel-related technologies. The high-cost problem is due to the use of a large amount of Pt catalysts for the sluggish oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in PEMFC cathodes. Therefore, it is scientifically and technically important to develop high-performance PGM-free cathode catalysts. Compared to other studied PGM-free formulations (e.g., oxides, sulfides, or carbides), carbon-based catalysts often possess many advantages including their excellent electrical conductivity, high surface areas, low-cost, and easiness of functionality. However, proper doping with heteroatoms (e.g., N, S, P) and transition metals (e.g., Fe, Co, or Mn) to modify the electronic and geometric structures of carbon is the key to enhancing catalytic performance. Herein, we introduce a new class of atomically dispersed and nitrogen coordinated metal-based carbon catalyst through controlled chemical doping of metals ions (Fe, Co, or Mn) into zinc-rich zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF), a type of metal-organic framework (MOF). The novel synthetic chemistry enables accurate controls of metal doping levels, particle sizes, and nanostructures of catalysts, which allows us to establish synthesis-structure-activity correlations. The high-performance atomic metal-rich catalysts hold great promise to replace Pt for future fuel cells as well as for other sustainable electrochemical energy storage and conversion applications such as CO2 reduction and NH3 electrosynthesis.

Atomically dispersed metal site catalysts for oxygen reduction in acids for fuel cell applications

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.