Bulk metallic glass nanowires for use in energy conversion and storage devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9343748-B2
Application number	US-201113702288-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 8, 2011
Priority date	Jun 8, 2010
Publication date	May 17, 2016
Grant date	May 17, 2016

Abstract

A class of materials has advantageous utility in electrocatalytic applications, e.g., fuel cells. The materials circumvent conventional Pt-based anode poisoning and the agglomeration/dissolution of supported catalysts during long-term operation by exploiting the unique physical and chemical properties of bulk metallic glass to create nanowires for electrocatalytic applications, e.g., fuel cell and battery applications. These amorphous metals can achieve unusual geometries and shapes along multiple length scales. The absence of crystallites, grain boundaries and dislocations in the amorphous structure of bulk metallic glasses results in a homogeneous and isotropic material down to the atomic scale, which displays very high strength, hardness, elastic strain limit and corrosion resistance. The melting temperatures of the disclosed bulk metallic glasses are much lower than the estimated melting temperatures based on interpolation of the alloy constituents making them attractive as highly malleable materials.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for providing electrocatalytic functionality to a system, comprising:
a. providing one or more bulk metallic glass elements to the system, wherein at least one of the one or more bulk metallic glass elements comprises a geometry or shape that provides effective electrocatalytic performance to the system, and wherein the at least one of the one or more bulk metallic glass elements is a Pt-BMG.

2. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one bulk metallic glass element includes one or more nanowires.

3. A method according to claim 2 , wherein the one or more nanowires have a diameter of less than 15 nanometers.

4. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the Pt-BMG is at least in part Pt58Cu15Ni5P22.

5. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one bulk metallic glass element is palladium-based.

6. A method according to claim l, wherein the at least one bulk metallic glass element comprises an aspect ratio that provides enhanced electrocatalytic performance relative to conventional electrocatalytic assemblies.

7. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one bulk metallic glass element is provided to an energy application system.

8. A method according to claim 7 , wherein the energy application system is selected from the group consisting of a fuel cell, a battery and a solar cell.

9. A method according to claim 1 , further comprising selecting one or more bulk metallic glass elements based upon electrocatalytic effectiveness.

10. A method according to claim 9 , wherein the method for selection includes synthesis of a combinatorial, multi-component library of selectd materials deposited as a sample array and high throughput characterization methods utilizing spectrometric measurements and diffractive imaging to establish a phase state distribution with respect to the selected materials included in the combinatorial library.

11. A method according to claim 1 , further comprising fabricating nanowires from the at least one bulk metallic glass element by a fabrication method that includes: (i) providing an anodized aluminum oxide template; (ii) combining the at least one bulk metallic glass element with the template; (iii) heating and pressurizing the at least one bulk metallic glass element and template to a super cooled liquid region; (iv) allowing the at least one bulk metallic element to fill pores defined in the template; and (v) dissolving the template to isolate nanowires formed from the at least one bulk metallic element.

12. A method according to claim 10 , wherein the sample array is formed as a thin film.

13. A method according to claim 10 , wherein the spectrometric measurements are generated utilizing an energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometer.

14. A method according to claim 10 , wherein the diffractive imaging utilizes an imaging-plate X-ray diffractometer.

Assignees

• Taylor Andre D
• Schroers Jan
• Univ Yale

Inventors

• Taylor Andre D
• Schroers Jan

Classifications

• H10F77/20

  Electrodes · CPC title

• H01M4/88

  Processes of manufacture · CPC title

• B82Y30/00

  Nanotechnology for materials or surface science, e.g. nanocomposites · CPC title

• B01J2219/00754

  Metal oxides · CPC title

• B01J2219/00659

  Two-dimensional arrays · CPC title