The research group of Professor Naotoshi Nakajima, Associate Professor Takehiko Fujigaya, and Assistant Professor Jun Yang of the Graduate School of Engineering, Kyushu University / International Research Institute for Carbon Neutral Energy uses polymers and inorganic metal oxides instead of platinum for high activity. Succeeded in developing a catalyst for fuel cells.
Fuel cells are promising candidates for next-generation energy because they generate electricity through the chemical reaction of oxygen and hydrogen in the atmosphere.However, since the fuel cells that have been put into practical use require platinum, the cost is high and the absolute amount is insufficient.With the current amount of platinum used, it is estimated that only 1000 million fuel cell vehicles can be manufactured even if platinum is used all over the world.
On the other hand, inorganic metal oxides, which have been attracting attention as catalysts for energy conversion, have problems of low efficiency due to low conductivity and a small area acting as a catalyst.
This time, the research group created a catalyst in which highly conductive carbon nanotubes are coated with a polymer that acts as a glue and uniformly coated with an inorganic metal oxide (NixCo3-xO4).It was confirmed that the catalyst showed high activity and high durability.This method was previously developed by the research group and applied to inorganic metal oxides.
The research group says that hybrids of carbon nanotubes and inorganic metal oxides can replace catalysts containing platinum, and will continue research on further performance improvements.
Paper information: [Scientific Reports] Decorating unoxidized-carbon nanotubes with homogeneous Ni-Co spinel nanocrystals show superior performance for oxygen evolution / reduction reactions
