Electrode catalyst and method of preparing electrode catalyst for fuel cell, and membrane electrode assembly and fuel cell including same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9466843-B2
Application number	US-201113190850-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 26, 2011
Priority date	Jul 30, 2010
Publication date	Oct 11, 2016
Grant date	Oct 11, 2016

Abstract

An electrode catalyst for a fuel cell, a membrane electrode assembly including the electrode catalyst, and a fuel cell including the electrode catalyst. The electrode catalyst has excellent electrochemical activity compared to the currently commercially available Pt/C catalyst and is much cheaper than a catalyst using platinum. The electrode catalyst includes tungsten carbide having a specific surface area of about 10 to about 30 m 2 /g, and a metal catalyst comprising palladium (Pd) or palladium alloy.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electrode catalyst comprising:
tungsten carbide having a specific surface area of about 10 to about 30 m 2 /g; and
a metal catalyst comprising palladium (Pd) or palladium alloy; and two other metals, wherein the first other metal is selected from the group consisting of nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), manganese (Mn), and iron (Fe), and the second other metal is selected from the group consisting of iridium (Ir), ruthenium (Ru) and gold (Au), the metal catalyst being devoid of platinum, and wherein the tungsten carbide comprises amorphous carbon; wherein, based on the total weight of the electrode catalyst, the amount of the tungsten carbide is in the range of about 60 to about 95 wt % and the amount of the metal catalyst is in the range of about 5 to about 40 wt %.

2. The electrode catalyst of claim 1 , wherein the weight ratio of the palladium (Pd) to the first other metal to the second other metal is in the ratio range of about 66.7:33.2:0.1 to about 99.998:0.001:0.001.

3. The electrode catalyst of claim 1 , wherein the metal catalyst comprises palladium (Pd) and at least one other metal selected from the group consisting of nickel (Ni) and iridium (Ir).

4. The electrode catalyst of claim 1 , wherein the amorphous carbon is outside of the crystal lattice structure of the tungsten carbide.

5. An electrode comprising the electrode catalyst of claim 1 .

6. A fuel cell comprising the electrode of claim 5 .

7. The fuel cell of claim 6 , wherein the electrode is an anode.

8. An electrode catalyst comprising:
tungsten carbide; wherein the tungsten carbide comprises amorphous carbon; and
a metal catalyst comprising palladium (Pd) or palladium alloy; and two other metals, wherein the first other metal is selected from the group consisting of nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), manganese (Mn), and iron (Fe), and the second other metal is selected from the group consisting of iridium (Ir), ruthenium (Ru) and gold (Au), the metal catalyst being devoid of platinum; wherein, based on the total weight of the electrode catalyst, the amount of the tungsten carbide is in the range of about 60 to about 95 wt % and the amount of the metal catalyst is in the range of about 5 to about 40 wt %.

9. The electrode catalyst of claim 8 , wherein the amorphous carbon is outside of the crystal lattice structure of the tungsten carbide.

10. The electrode catalyst of claim 8 , wherein the weight ratio of the palladium (Pd) to the first other metal to the second other metal is in the ratio range of about 66.7:33.2:0.1 to about 99.998:0.001:0.001.

11. The electrode catalyst of claim 8 , wherein the metal catalyst comprises palladium (Pd) and at least one other metal selected from the group consisting of nickel (Ni) and iridium (Ir).

12. An electrode comprising the electrode catalyst of claim 8 .

13. A fuel cell comprising the electrode of claim 12 .

14. The fuel cell of claim 13 , wherein the electrode is an anode.

Assignees

• Pak Chan-Ho
• Yoo Dae-Jong
• Chang Hyuk
• Ham Dong-Jin
• Han Sueng-Hoon
• Bae Gang-Hong
• Lee Jae-Sung
• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
• Postech Academy-Industry Found

Inventors

• Pak Chan-Ho
• Yoo Dae-Jong
• Chang Hyuk
• Ham Dong-Jin
• Han Sueng-Hoon
• Bae Gang-Hong
• Lee Jae-Sung

Classifications

• H01M4/92 Primary

  Metals of platinum group (H01M4/94 {, H01M4/9058} take precedence) · CPC title

• H01M4/925

  supported on carriers, e.g. powder carriers · CPC title

• H01M4/8817

  Treatment of supports before application of the catalytic active composition (coated porous composites H01M8/0245) · CPC title

• H01M4/881

  Electrolytic membranes · CPC title

• B01J27/22

  Carbides · CPC title