ADVANCED PEROVSKITE ELECTROCATALYSIS FOR DIRECT METHANOL FUEL CELLS

THE PROPOSED PHASE I PROGRAM ADDRESSES PROBLEMS CURRENTLY INHIBITING DEVELOPMENT OF DIRECT METHANOL FUEL CELLS BY SUBSTITUTING HIGH AREA PEROVSKITE ELECTROCATALYSTS OF THE GENERAL COMPOSITION LN1-XAXCOO3, AND ACO1-XFEXO3 (WHERE LN - LA, ND, SM AND EU; A' = BA, SR, CA AND CE WITH O < X < 0.6; A - BA AND SR WITH O < X < O.4) FORDISPERSED NOBLE METAL ELECTOCATALYSTS CURRENTLY USED FOR THIS APPLICATION IN SOLID POLYMER ELECTROLYTE (PE) BASED FUEL CELLS. THE ABILITY OF THE PROPOSED ANODE ELECTROCATALYSTS TO MAINTAIN HIGHER LONG TERM ACTIVITY THAN CURRENT NOBLE METAL ELECTROCATALYSTS WILL IN-PART BE RELATED TO THEIR CAPACITY TOWARDS SUPPLYING BASIC SURFACE OXIDE IONS FOR DEHYDROGENATION OF ADSORBED METHANOL AND FOR SUBSEQUENT OXIDATIVE REACTION TOWARDS CHEMISORBED INTERMEDIATES WHICH MIGHT POTENTIALLY POISON ELECTRO-CATALYST REACTION SITES. WE EXPECT THAT TRANSITION METAL D-ORBITAL OCCUPANCY WILL ALSO INFLUENCE PEROVSKITE ELECTROCATALYST ACTIVITY TOWARDS THE OXIDATIVE REMOVAL OF INTERMEDIATES. WORK TO BE PERFORMED DURING PHASE I WILL CHARACTERIZE THE ELECTROCHEMICAL UTILITY OF PROPOSED PEROVSKITE ELECTROCATALYSTS. THESE MATERIALS WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO GAS DIFFUSION ANODES WITHIN PE FUEL CELLS. WE ANTICIPATE THAT SUCHA STRATEGY WILL PROVIDE A DIRECT METHANOL FUEL CELL WITH ANODE ELECTROCATALYST SITES FREE OF SURFACE POISONING RESTRICTIONS CURRENTLY INHERENT WITH PLATINUM ALLOY BASED ELECTROCATALYSTS. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS - THE ANTICIPATED BENEFIT TO RESULTFROM PERFORMANCE OF THIS PROGRAM WILL BE THE IDENTIFICATION OF ADVANCED PEROVSKITE ELECTROCATALYSIS AND GAS DIFFUSION ELECTRODE TECHNOLOGY COMPATIBLE FOR INCORPORATION INTO DIRECT METHANOL POLYMER ELECTROLYTE FUEL CELLS. SINCE THE PROPOSED ELECTROCATALYSTS ARE EXPECTED TO BE INSENSITIVE TO SURFACE POISONING EFFECTS CAUSED BY METHANOL PARTIAL OXIDATION PRODUCTS, LONG PERFORMANCE LIFETIMES CAN BE EXPECTED.