中文 |

Research Progress

Scientists Develop Graphdiyne Based Fuel Cell Cathode Catalyst

Oct 16, 2018

To deal with energy and environment problems, lots of efforts have been developed to produce new energy vehicles. As reported by Bloomberg NEF, about four million electric vehicles have been sold till August 30, 2018 all over the world.  

Compared with traditional cars, the most important component of an electric car is its battery system, among which the fuel cell is an ideal candidate with low pollution and high energy efficiency. However, the high cost of platinum based catalysts in fuel cells is a big obstruction for commercialization.

To solve the above issues, a research group led by Prof. HUANG Changshui and LI Yuliang from the Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology (QIBEBT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences developed a new hydrogen substituted graphdiyne (HsGDY) material. 

For HsGDY, three of the carbon atoms in a benzene ringare linked to acetylenic bonds, while the other three carbon atoms are linked to hydrogen (H) atoms. Accordingly, the C atoms linked to H are easily substituted by N atoms and act similarly to the carbon atoms at the edges or defects of graphene, allowing doping of pyridinic N at "in-plane sites" of the matrix, while maintaining the conjugated structure.  

Large molecular pores with a diameter of ca. 16.3 angstrom were distributed in the HsGDY framework plane, benefiting the mass transfer of O2. The as-synthesized pyridinic nitrogen-doped hydrogen-substituted graphdiyne showed much better electrocatalytic performance for the oxygen reduction reaction than that of the commercial platinum-based catalyst in alkaline media and comparable activity in acidic media.  

This study, published in Nature Communicaions will open a different avenue for developing pyridinic N selectively doped carbon materials for fuel cells and other energy storage device.  

The research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Frontier Science Research Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province. 

  

Pyridinic N doped HsGDY as efficient electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reactions. (Image by LIU Qing) 

Contact Us
  • 86-10-68597521 (day)

    86-10-68597289 (night)

  • 86-10-68511095 (day)

    86-10-68512458 (night)

  • cas_en@cas.cn

  • 52 Sanlihe Rd., Xicheng District,

    Beijing, China (100864)

Copyright © 2002 - Chinese Academy of Sciences