物理化学学报 >> 2021, Vol. 37 >> Issue (9): 2007072.doi: 10.3866/PKU.WHXB202007072

所属专题: 燃料电池

综述 上一篇    下一篇

燃料电池碳基氧还原催化剂的设计与应用

刘苗苗, 杨茅茂, 舒欣欣, 张进涛()   

  • 收稿日期:2020-07-26 录用日期:2020-08-18 发布日期:2020-08-24
  • 通讯作者: 张进涛 E-mail:jtzhang@sdu.edu.cn
  • 作者简介:张进涛,1981年生。2012年于新加坡国立大学获得博士学位。现为山东大学教授,入选山东省泰山学者计划青年专家,海外高层次人才计划青年项目。主要从事高性能电极材料的表界面电化学与电催化储能机理研究
  • 基金资助:
    国家自然科学基金(21503116);山东省高等学校青创科技支持计划(2019KJC025)

Design Strategies for Carbon-Based Electrocatalysts and Application to Oxygen Reduction in Fuel Cells

Miaomiao Liu, Maomao Yang, XinXin Shu, Jintao Zhang()   

  • Received:2020-07-26 Accepted:2020-08-18 Published:2020-08-24
  • Contact: Jintao Zhang E-mail:jtzhang@sdu.edu.cn
  • About author:Jintao Zhang, Email: jtzhang@sdu.edu.cn. Tel.: +86-531-88361011
  • Supported by:
    the National Natural Science Foundation of China(21503116);the Program for Scientific Research Innovation Team of Young Scholar in Colleges and Universities of Shandong Province(2019KJC025)

摘要:

燃料电池以高比能、低污染等独特优势,备受研究者的广泛关注。然而,燃料电池的商业化应用受到电极催化剂的性能、隔膜性能与成本等方面的限制。其中,氧还原反应作为燃料电池阴极的关键电极反应,其催化剂的电催化活性显著影响燃料电池性能和生产成本。因此,氧还原催化剂一直是燃料电池研究重要方向之一。碳基催化剂表现出了类似贵金属的电催化活性,通过优化碳基催化剂的结构及表面电子性质,能够降低氧还原反应过电势,促进氧还原四电子的反应过程,从而实现更高的能量转化效率。针对碳基催化剂在燃料电池中的基础应用,本文综述了近年来杂原子掺杂以及非贵金属与杂原子协同掺杂碳基催化剂的设计思路、电催化性能和潜在的催化机理等最新研究进展,并对未来发展方向进行了总结与展望。

关键词: 碳基催化剂, 氧还原反应, 非贵金属, 电催化剂, 燃料电池

Abstract:

Fuel cells have attracted much attention because of their high specific energy and low environmental load, but their commercial application is limited by the poor performance and high cost of the relevant electrode catalysts. The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is the key cathodic reaction in a fuel cell, and it plays an important role in the chemical energy conversion. However, the slow reaction kinetics, large reaction energy barrier, and low selectivity deteriorate the energy efficiency of fuel cells. Thus, rational design of low-cost electrocatalysts that show good activity is highly desirable for improving the performance of fuel cells. Although noble-metal-based electrocatalysts (e.g., Pt/C) show excellent catalytic activity for the ORR, their limited resources, high price, and low stability caused by the migration and agglomeration of nanoparticles on the surface of carbon supports have hindered their extensive application. Because of their excellent electrical conductivity and stability, carbon-based materials are widely used as substrates for electrode materials in the ORR. Heteroatom (e.g., nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur)-doped carbon materials can influence the adsorption state of oxygen molecules and intermediates by changing the charge distribution of adjacent carbon atoms because of the difference in electronegativity and atomic radius between the heteroatoms and carbon atoms, thus promoting the ORR activity. Optimization of the structure and surface properties of carbon-based electrocatalysts has helped accelerate the four-electron reaction and reduce the overpotential in the ORR. Therefore, non-noble metal and heteroatom-doped carbon-based catalysts exhibit improved ORR activity. The dispersion of non-noble metals on carbon materials via the interaction of metal atoms with the neighboring nitrogen atoms or other heteroatoms produces high-density active sites in the carbon support, thus leading to high atomic utilization and significantly improving the electrocatalytic activity owing to the synergistic effect. This review focuses on the applications of carbon-based electrocatalysts in fuel cells, summarizing the design strategies and electrocatalytic activities of heteroatom-doped carbon-based catalysts with non-noble metals toward improving their ORR activity. Furthermore, the latest research progress in the field of carbon-based catalysts used as cathode catalysts in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) and anion-exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs) is integrated, and the direction of future development is addressed.

Key words: Carbon-based catalyst, Oxygen reduction reaction, Non-noble metal, Electrocatalyst, Fuel cell