Process for producing catalyst for direct-liquid fuel cell, catalyst produced by the process and uses thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9379390-B2
Application number	US-201214236160-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 5, 2012
Priority date	Aug 9, 2011
Publication date	Jun 28, 2016
Grant date	Jun 28, 2016

Abstract

In a direct-liquid fuel cell supplied directly with a liquid fuel, a process for producing an electrode catalyst for a direct-liquid fuel cell is provided which is capable of suppressing decrease in cathode potential caused by liquid fuel crossover and providing an inexpensive and high-performance electrode catalyst for a direct-liquid fuel cell. The process for producing an electrode catalyst for a direct-liquid fuel cell includes Step A of mixing at least a transition metal-containing compound with a nitrogen-containing organic compound to obtain a catalyst precursor composition, and Step C of heat-treating the catalyst precursor composition at a temperature of from 500 to 1100° C. to obtain an electrode catalyst, wherein part or entirety of the transition metal-containing compound includes, as a transition metal element, at least one transition metal element M1 selected from Group IV and Group V elements of the periodic table.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A process for producing an electrode catalyst for a direct-liquid fuel cell comprising:
Step A of mixing at least a transition metal-containing compound with a nitrogen-containing organic compound to obtain a catalyst precursor composition, and
Step C of heat-treating the catalyst precursor composition at a temperature of from 500 to 1100° C. to obtain an electrode catalyst, wherein
part or entirety of the transition metal-containing compound comprises, as a transition metal element, at least one transition metal element M1 selected from Group IV and Group V elements of the periodic table, wherein
the nitrogen-containing organic compound comprises a carbonyl group, wherein
to an α-carbon of the carbonyl group, a nitrogen atom is bonded.

2. The process for producing an electrode catalyst for a direct-liquid fuel cell according to claim 1 , wherein in Step A, the mixing is performed in a solvent.

3. The process for producing an electrode catalyst for a direct-liquid fuel cell according to claim 2 , which comprises, between Step A and Step C, Step B of removing the solvent from the catalyst precursor composition.

4. The process for producing an electrode catalyst for a direct-liquid fuel cell according to claim 2 , wherein at least one of the transition metal-containing compound and the nitrogen-containing organic compound and the solvent comprises oxygen in the molecule.

5. The process for producing an electrode catalyst for a direct-liquid fuel cell according to claim 1 , wherein the transition metal element M1 comprises at least one selected from titanium, zirconium, niobium and tantalum.

6. The process for producing an electrode catalyst for a direct-liquid fuel cell according to claim 1 , wherein in Step A, a solution of the transition metal-containing compound is mixed with a solution of the nitrogen-containing organic compound.

7. The process for producing an electrode catalyst for a direct-liquid fuel cell according to claim 1 , wherein the nitrogen-containing organic compound is a compound capable of forming a chelate together with a transition metal in the transition metal-containing compound.

8. The process for producing an electrode catalyst for a direct-liquid fuel cell according to claim 1 , wherein in Step A, a compound having a diketone structure is further mixed.

9. The process for producing an electrode catalyst for a direct-liquid fuel cell according to claim 1 , wherein the transition metal-containing compound partly comprises, as a transition metal element, at least one transition metal element M2 selected from iron, nickel, chromium, cobalt, vanadium and manganese.

10. The process for producing an electrode catalyst for a direct-liquid fuel cell according to claim 1 , wherein the transition metal-containing compound is at least selected from the group consisting of metal nitrates, metal acid chlorides, metal-containing organic compounds, metal halides, metal perchlorates and metal hypochlorites.

11. The process for producing an electrode catalyst for a direct-liquid fuel cell according to claim 1 , wherein in Step C, the catalyst precursor composition is heat-treated in an atmosphere containing 0.01 to 10 vol % of a hydrogen gas.

12. The process for producing an electrode catalyst for a direct-liquid fuel cell according to claim 1 , wherein Step C is a step in which the catalyst precursor composition is heat-treated at a temperature of from 500 to 1100° C. and the obtained heat-treated product is disintegrated to obtain an electrode catalyst.

Assignees

• Lee Kunchan
• Yu Chunfu
• Monden Ryuji
• Horikita Masaki
• Sato Takashi
• Showa Denko Kk

Inventors

• Lee Kunchan
• Yu Chunfu
• Monden Ryuji
• Horikita Masaki
• Sato Takashi

Classifications

• Y02P70/56

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• H01M4/88 Primary

  Processes of manufacture · CPC title

• B01J35/0033

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• Y02E60/523

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• B01J37/086

  Decomposition of an organometallic compound, a metal complex or a metal salt of a carboxylic acid · CPC title