Breakthroughs in the development of hydrocarbon fuel cell catalysts

In the process of developing fuel cells, the search for cheap and efficient organic catalysts has always been a direction for researchers in related fields. Recently, Physicists at Eumundo University in Sweden have revealed the key processes and mechanisms for the development of such catalysts and have taken a big step in this direction. Recent research results have been published in the authoritative international journal of nanometer science and technology, the Journal of the American Chemical Society-Nano.

As global demand for energy and raw materials continues to grow, researchers around the world are struggling to find readily available and inexpensive materials that can be used to make devices that provide energy. The hydrogen and oxygen based fuel cells are undoubtedly a good choice. In the process of converting chemical energy into electricity, the battery will not cause any harm to the environment, because its byproduct is water.

In order to make this kind of battery more efficient, people add a variety of catalysts to their electrodes. However, traditional catalysts are mainly composed of precious metals such as platinum and rhodium, which are not only expensive but also difficult to manufacture.

For this reason, researchers are striving to find cheaper and more readily available catalysts.

Three years ago, "Science" magazine reported a research that caused a stir in the academic world: All-organic catalysts based on nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes have the same catalytic efficiency as platinum-containing catalysts.

Since then, researchers have continued to study it. Scientists have discovered that defects in carbon nanotubes can affect catalytic efficiency.

It is understood that the ideal state of carbon nanotubes is entirely composed of carbon atoms, but in fact, many places of carbon nanotubes will have the phenomenon of carbon atoms missing or being replaced, that is, "defects."

"After studying the mechanism of defects in depth, we intentionally created defects whose carbon atoms were replaced by nitrogen atoms. Studies have shown that this defect can increase the electron density and thus achieve our desired catalytic efficiency." Thomas Wagberg, associate professor of Physics at the school Say.

He also said that experiments have shown that the catalytic efficiency of nitrogen-deficient carbon nanotubes is much higher than that of carbon nanotubes with other atomic defects, and that inefficient nitrogen atoms can be converted to high-efficiency nitrogen through simple heating. Atomic defects.

In addition, this material also has the potential to catalyze other reactions, "for example, the decomposition of water into hydrogen and oxygen, that is, this catalyst can catalyze what people call artificial photosynthesis."