@article{24ee6956c72742cba2b6cc1b1c9fe748,
title = "Engineered architecture of nitrogenous graphene encapsulating porous carbon with nano-channel reactors enhancing the PEM fuel cell performance",
abstract = "Nanoscale architecturing of platinum group metal-free (PGM-free) electrocatalysts is expected to dramatically improve the overall catalytic performance for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Desired structures and morphologies for boosting active site density and enhancing mass and charge transfer are essential for developing next-generation PGM-free electrocatalysts. Herein, we report the design of a M-N-C type catalyst consisting of 3-dimensional graphitic meso-porous carbon spheres wrapped with 2-dimensional graphenized sheets. This heterostructure comprises resultant large electroactive surface area, abundant pore channels, and tuned chemical structures, which provide improved electrocatalytic performance. Meanwhile, these pore structures can be regarded as nano-channel reactors to catalyze ORR with easily accessible active sites, effective mass transfer, and smooth charge transfer. The obtained catalyst delivers a high maximum power density of 0.83 W cm−2 in a single H2–O2 fuel cell measurement, ranking it as one of the most promising PGM-free catalysts in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Moreover, reasonable fuel cell stability was also observed through accelerated degradation testing. This work provides a new avenue for PGM-free catalysts design that can be a step towards practical commercial of PEMFCs.",
keywords = "Catalyst, Fuel cells, In-situ graphene, Oxygen reduction reaction, Porous carbon spheres",
author = "Xiaogang Fu and Hassan, {Fathy M.} and Pouyan Zamani and Gaopeng Jiang and Higgins, {Drew C.} and Choi, {Ja Yeon} and Xiaolei Wang and Pan Xu and Yanru Liu and Zhongwei Chen",
note = "Funding Information: Supplementary material Dr. Xiaogang Fu is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Applied Nano Materials & Clean Energy Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Waterloo, Canada under Prof. Zhongwei Chen's supervision. He obtained his Ph.D. in Materials Chemistry from Lanzhou University, China, in 2013. His research interests focus on the design and development of advanced materials for energy storage applications. Dr. Fathy M. Hassan obtained his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry, Cairo University. He held the Japan Society for Promotion of Science Award at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology. He advanced his education by a Ph.D. in Nanotechnology “Chemical Engineering” from University of Waterloo. Holder of honored award of outstanding achievements and Park and Veva Reilly Medal for Proficiency in Research. He is one of 2016 Reaxy's Ph.D. Prize finalist. He is a postdoctoral fellow with research experience in synthetic materials chemistry and nano-architecture materials for advanced electrochemical energy storage and conversion. Dr. Pouyan Zamani obtained his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Waterloo in August 2017 and his Master in Polymer Engineering-Nanotechnology from Amirkabir University (Tehran Polytechnique). His dissertation work was under the supervision of Dr. Zhongwei Chen, during which time he spent six months as a Visiting Scholar at Ballard Power Systems Inc. working on the development of nanostructured materials and their integration into clean energy electrochemical devices. Gaopeng Jiang received his master's degree from Donghua University in 2012 and currently is the Ph.D. candidate on Chemical Engineering (Nanotechnology) in University of Waterloo, Canada. His research interest mainly focuses on the design and development of nanostructured materials for energy storage and conversion devices including fuel cells, batteries and sensors. Dr. Drew C. Higgins obtained his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Waterloo in July 2015. His dissertation work was under the supervision of Dr. Zhongwei Chen, during which time he spent one year as a Visiting Scholar at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. He was an NSERC Banting Postdoctoral Fellow and now an Associate Staff Scientist at SUNCAT at Stanford University and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory working in the group of Professor Thomas Jaramillo. His research interests include the development of nanostructured functional materials and their integration into clean energy electrochemical devices. Ja-Yeon Choi is a Ph.D. student in Chemical Engineering at the University of Waterloo in Dr. Zhongwei Chen's research group, and a visiting researcher at Ballard Power Systems. He completed his Masters in 2013 on the application of nanostructured carbon materials and novel precursors to develop non-precious metal catalysts for Proton Exchange Membrane fuel cells. His current research interests lie in the development of advanced non-precious metal and Pt catalysts with controlled nano structures for fuel cell and battery applications. Dr. Xiaolei Wang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering at Concordia University, Canada. He received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from University of California, Los Angeles in 2013, and worked as a postdoctoral fellow researcher in the University of Waterloo, Canada. His research interest mainly focuses on the rational design and development of advanced materials towards clean energy related technologies. Pan Xu received his Master's degree under the supervision of Prof. Jinli Qiao from Donghua University (China) in 2015. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Chemical Engineering under the supervision of Prof. Zhongwei Chen at the University of Waterloo. His current research interest is mainly focused on the development of non-precious oxygen reaction catalysts including oxygen reduction catalysts and bi-functional catalysts for fuel cells and rechargeable metal-air batteries. Dr. Yanru Liu is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Applied Nano Materials & Clean Energy Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Waterloo, Canada under Prof. Zhongwei Chen's supervision. He obtained his Ph.D. in Materials Chemistry from Lanzhou University, China, in 2013. Her research is currently focused on the design and development of advanced nano materials for energy storage applications. Dr. Zhongwei Chen is Canada Research Chair Professor in Advanced Materials for Clean Energy at University of Waterloo. His research interests are in the development of advanced energy materials for metal-air batteries, lithium-ion batteries and fuel cells. He has published 1 book, 7 book chapters and more than 150 peer reviewed journal articles with over 10,000 citations with H-index 50 (Google Scholar). He is also listed as inventor on 15 US/international patents, with several licensed to companies in USA and Canada. He was recipient of the 2016 E. W. R Steacie Memorial Fellowship, which followed shortly upon several other prestigious honors, including the Ontario Early Researcher Award, an NSERC Discovery Supplement Award, the Distinguished Performance and the Research Excellence Awards from the University of Waterloo. Funding Information: This work was supported by the University of Waterloo . TEM imaging was carried out by Carmen Andrei at the Canadian Center for Electron Microscopy (CCEM) located at McMaster University. The Catalysis Research for Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells (CaRPE FC) Network administered from Simon Fraser University and supported by Automotive Partnership Canada (APC) Grant no. APCPJ 417858–11 through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada ( NSERC ) are greatly acknowledged. Appendix A Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2017 Elsevier Ltd",
year = "2017",
month = dec,
doi = "10.1016/j.nanoen.2017.10.051",
language = "English",
volume = "42",
pages = "249--256",
journal = "Nano Energy",
issn = "2211-2855",
publisher = "Elsevier BV",
}