2022/01/21
Keio University
Ayabo Co., Ltd.
Ibaraki University
Professor Atsushi Nakajima of the Faculty of Science and Technology at Keio University, Keizo Tsukamoto, President and CEO of Ayabo Co., Ltd., Professor Mika Eguchi of the Graduate School of Science and Technology (Field of Engineering) at Ibaraki University, and Dr. Toshihiro Ando of the National Institute for Materials Science, among others, have demonstrated that a fuel cell catalyst fabricated by directly depositing platinum nanoclusters generated in the gas phase onto Marimo Carbon (MC) achieves a maximum power density of 9.6 W/mg Pt , exhibiting superior power generation performance compared to standard electrocatalysts.
Toward the realization of a hydrogen society that utilizes hydrogen energy, fuel cells have gained importance in recent years due to their high energy efficiency and low environmental impact. However, for the widespread adoption of fuel cell vehicles, reducing the amount of platinum used in catalysts and improving their durability have been major challenges. Furthermore, since conventional standard platinum-based fuel cell catalysts were prepared using a liquid-phase method, the reduction in catalytic activity due to residual ligands has also been considered a problem.
This research group fabricated a fuel cell catalyst by mass-producing clean platinum nanoclusters via a gas-phase method and directly depositing them onto MC, which serves as a support with excellent durability and gas diffusivity. A Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA) was fabricated from this catalyst with a platinum loading of 0.05 mg/cm 2 and incorporated into a 5 cm × 5 cm JARI standard cell for a fuel cell power generation test. The results showed a maximum power density of 9.6 W/mg Pt at a current density of 1.2 A/cm 2 . Additionally, the platinum usage per unit of output was 0.105 g/kW. These results are considered to have high utility value as an applied technology for fuel cells with reduced platinum usage. The findings of this research were published in the Royal Society of Chemistry's academic journal "RSC Advances" on December 8, 2021 (UK time).
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