Support for polymer electrolyte fuel cell catalyst, method of producing support for polymer electrolyte fuel cell catalyst, catalyst layer for polymer electrolyte fuel cell, and fuel cell

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11394034-B2
Application number	US-201816626724-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 29, 2018
Priority date	Jun 29, 2017
Publication date	Jul 19, 2022
Grant date	Jul 19, 2022

Abstract

A support for a polymer electrolyte fuel cell catalyst satisfying the following requirements (A), (B), (C), and (D), and a producing method thereof, as well as a catalyst layer for a polymer electrolyte fuel cell and a fuel cell:
(A) a specific surface area according to a BET analysis of a nitrogen adsorption isotherm is from 450 to 1500 m 2 /g.
(B) a nitrogen adsorption and desorption isotherm forms a hysteresis loop in a range of relative pressure P/P 0 of more than 0.47 but not more than 0.90, and a hysteresis loop area ΔS 0.47-0.9 is from 1 to 35 mL/g;
(C) a relative pressure P close /P 0 at which the hysteresis loop closes is more than 0.47 but not more than 0.70; and
(D) a half-width of a G band detected by Raman spectrometry in a range of from 1500 to 1700 cm −1 is from 45 to 75 cm −1 .

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A support for a polymer electrolyte fuel cell catalyst, comprising a carbon material, and satisfying the following requirements (A), (B), (C), and (D):
(A) a specific surface area according to a BET analysis of a nitrogen adsorption isotherm is from 450 to 1500 m 2 /g;
(B) a nitrogen adsorption and desorption isotherm forms a hysteresis loop in a range of relative pressure P/P 0 of more than 0.47 but not more than 0.90, and a hysteresis loop area ΔS 0.47-0.9 is from 5 to 35 mL/g;
(C) a relative pressure P close /P 0 at which the hysteresis loop closes is more than 0.47 but not more than 0.70; and
(D) a half-width of a G band detected by Raman spectrometry in a range of from 1500 to 1700 cm −1 is from 45 to 75 cm −1 .

2. The support for a polymer electrolyte fuel cell catalyst according to claim 1 , further satisfying the following requirement (E):
(E) an adsorption volume V 0.2-0.9 measured from the nitrogen adsorption isotherm in a relative pressure range of from 0.20 to 0.90 is from 150 to 700 mL/g.

3. The support for a polymer electrolyte fuel cell catalyst according to claim 1 , wherein the hysteresis loop area ΔS 0.47-0.9 is from 15 to 35 mL/g.

4. The support for a polymer electrolyte fuel cell catalyst according to claim 1 , wherein the relative pressure P close /P 0 at which the hysteresis loop closes is from 0.50 to 0.70.

5. A method of producing a support for a polymer electrolyte fuel cell catalyst according to claim 1 , the method comprising:
a support step of supporting an activation catalyst, which promotes an activation reaction on a porous carbon material, in pores in the porous carbon material, to produce a carbon material supporting the activation catalyst; and
a first heat treatment step of heat-treating the carbon material supporting the activation catalyst in an oxygen-containing atmosphere in a range of from 300° C. to 700° C.

6. The method of producing a support for a polymer electrolyte fuel cell catalyst according to claim 5 , further comprising a second heat treatment step of heating the carbon material supporting the activation catalyst in a vacuum or in an inert gas atmosphere in a range of from 1600 to 2100° C., the second heat treatment step being performed at least one of before or after the first heat treatment step.

7. The method of producing a support for a polymer electrolyte fuel cell catalyst according to claim 5 , wherein:
in the supporting step, in a case in which a particle diameter of the activation catalyst is from 2 to 7 nm, and the activation catalyst is a noble metal element, a support rate of the activation catalyst is from 3 to 20% by mass, and in a case in which the activation catalyst is a 3d element, a support rate of the activation catalyst is from 3 to 9% by mass; and
in the first heat treatment step, an oxygen concentration of the oxygen-containing atmosphere is from 5 to 100% by volume with respect to a total volume of atmosphere gas, and a heat treatment time is from 20 min to 20 hours.

8. The method of producing a support for a polymer electrolyte fuel cell catalyst according to claim 5 , further comprising an activation catalyst removal step of removing the activation catalyst that is performed after the first heat treatment step.

9. A catalyst layer for a polymer electrolyte fuel cell comprising the support for a polymer electrolyte fuel cell catalyst according to claim 1 .

10. A fuel cell, comprising the catalyst layer for a polymer electrolyte fuel cell according to claim 9 .

11. The fuel cell according to claim 10 , wherein the catalyst layer for a polymer electrolyte fuel cell is a catalyst layer on a cathode side.

12. A support for a polymer electrolyte fuel cell catalyst, comprising a carbon material, and satisfying the following requirements (A), (B), (C), and (D):
(A) a specific surface area according to a BET analysis of a nitrogen adsorption isotherm is from 450 to 1500 m 2 /g;
(B) a nitrogen adsorption and desorption isotherm forms a hysteresis loop in a range of relative pressure P/P 0 of more than 0.47 but not more than 0.90, and a hysteresis loop area ΔS 0.47-0.9 is from 1 to 35 mL/g;
(C) a relative pressure P close /P 0 at which the hysteresis loop closes is from 0.50 to 0.70; and
(D) a half-width of a G band detected by Raman spectrometry in a range of from 1500 to 1700 cm −1 is from 45 to 75 cm −1 .

Assignees

• Nippon Steel Chemical & Mat Co Ltd

Inventors

• Iijima Takashi
• Tadokoro Kenichiro
• Hiyoshi Masataka
• Furukawa Shinya
• Komura Tomoko
• Mizuuchi Kazuhiko

Classifications

• C01B32/336

  characterised by gaseous activating agents · CPC title

• H01M8/10

  Fuel cells with solid electrolytes · CPC title

• H01M2004/8689

  Positive electrodes · CPC title

• H01M4/86

  Inert electrodes with catalytic activity, e.g. for fuel cells · CPC title

• H01M4/926

  on carbon or graphite · CPC title