Electrocatalysts for platinum-free anion exchange membrane fuel cells

This paper presents a materials set for direct hydrazine anion exchange membrane fuel cell (AMFC), consisting of NiZn bimetallic anode catalysts and Fe/Co nitrogen-carbon hierarchically structured cathode catalyst. The synthesis, characterized, and evaluation of the electrochemical performance of these two sets of catalyst will be demonstrated as well as their integration into a single-cell AMFC based on a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) using a commercial anion exchange membrane and the corresponding ionomer for the catalysts inks. In the NiZn catalysts design the particular role of the allowing metal will be discussed as well as the mechanism of hydrazine bonding to yield the desired selectivity towards N ₂ and H ₂O as final oxidation products. The cathode catalyst design is based on microemulsion-templated silica particles, used in its own rite as a (secondary) template for a synthetic carbon matrix than incorporates both nitrogen and oxygen moieties along with the transition metal.