Noble metal electrocatalysts are well known and extensively used for manufacturing of various kinds of electrochemical devices, however the high cost of these materials significantly restricts their commercial application. Though remarkable progress has been made recently, none of the existing non-noble metal catalysts can reach the level of a Pt based catalysts in terms of catalytic activity, durability and chemical/electrochemical stability.
The proposed research is focused on synthesis and characterization of novel nonnoble metal electro-catalysts based on macrocyclic compounds. The catalysts will be synthesized from transition metals chelated with organic precursors and impregnated into modified carbon supports forming nitrogen enriched nano-structures. As a result, a self-organized network of macro-cycles containing stabilized transition metal cations will be formed inside the modified carbon support possessing high catalytic activity toward oxygen reduction and hydrogen oxidation.
The intellectual merit of the proposed work is in designing new catalysts and understanding the structure-properties relationship of the electrocatalysts based on macrocyclic compounds that have direct influence on industrial, environmental, national security and sustainable energy resources. The novel catalysts will be investigated with emphasis on carbon support functionality, coordination effect between metal cation macrocycles and support, and the distribution of active catalytic sites.
The broader impacts of this work will enhance design of a new generation of non-noble electrocatalysts that can be used in different kinds of low temperature fuel cells, such as H2, methanol, ethanol, or formic acid fuel cells, electrolyzers, and hydrogen separation devices. The completed experimental cycle from synthesizing catalyst to manufacturing a fuel cell will validate the results of the work. This study will form links to other scientific disciplines, such as those regarding bio-catalysts in which a single enzymatic site containing iron cation is two orders of magnitude more active than Pt atom.
This work will give a significant educational background for the students in the emerging area of non-noble metal catalysts. Furthermore, it will allow to enhance relationships with other universities, e.g. University of Illinois in Chicago, and to seed money for future projects. This project is vitally important for the PI as a new faculty member at the University of Connecticut to continue her work in the area of fuel cell catalysts that has been started earlier and has already found national and international recognition.
