Intrinsically microporous polymer slows down fuel cell catalyst corrosion

Polymers of Intrinsic Microporosity in the Design of Electrochemical Multicomponent and Multiphase Interfaces

Polymers of intrinsic microporosity (or PIMs) provide porous materials due to their highly contorted and rigid macromolecular structures, which prevent space-efficient packing. PIMs are readily dissolved in solvents and can be cast into robust microporous coatings and membranes. With a typical micropore size range of around 1 nm and a typical surface area of 700-1000 m² g^-1, PIMs offer channels for ion/molecular transport and pores for gaseous species, solids, and liquids to coexist. Electrode surfaces are readily modified with coatings or composite films to provide interfaces for solid|solid|liquid or solid|liquid|liquid or solid|liquid|gas multiphase electrode processes.

Effect of Backbone Rigidity on the Glass Transition of Polymers of Intrinsic Microporosity Probed by Fast Scanning Calorimetry

Polymers of Intrinsic Microporosity (PIMs) of high performance have developed as materials with a wide application range in gas separation and other energy-related fields. Further optimization and long-term behavior of devices with PIMs require an understanding of the structure-property relationships, including physical aging. In this context, the glass transition plays a central role, but with conventional thermal analysis a glass transition is usually not detectable for PIMs before their thermal decomposition. Fast scanning calorimetry provides evidence of the glass transition for a series of PIMs, as the time scales responsible for thermal degradation and for the glass transition are decoupled by employing ultrafast heating rates of tens of thousands K s^-1. The investigated PIMs were chosen considering the chain rigidity. The estimated glass transition temperatures follow the order of the rigidity of the backbone of the PIMs.

Platinum Nanoparticle Inclusion into a Carbonized Polymer of Intrinsic Microporosity: Electrochemical Characteristics of a Catalyst for Electroless Hydrogen Peroxide Production

The one-step vacuum carbonization synthesis of a platinum nano-catalyst embedded in a microporous heterocarbon (Pt@cPIM) is demonstrated. A nitrogen-rich polymer of an intrinsic microporosity (PIM) precursor is impregnated with PtCl₆2- to give (after vacuum carbonization at 700 °C) a nitrogen-containing heterocarbon with embedded Pt nanoparticles of typically 1⁻4 nm diameter (with some particles up to 20 nm diameter). The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area of this hybrid material is 518 m² g-1 (with a cumulative pore volume of 1.1 cm³ g-1) consistent with the surface area of the corresponding platinum-free heterocarbon. In electrochemical experiments, the heterocarbon-embedded nano-platinum is observed as reactive towards hydrogen oxidation, but essentially non-reactive towards bigger molecules during methanol oxidation or during oxygen reduction. Therefore, oxygen reduction under electrochemical conditions is suggested to occur mainly via a 2-electron pathway on the outer carbon shell to give H₂O₂. Kinetic selectivity is confirmed in exploratory catalysis experiments in the presence of H₂ gas (which is oxidized on Pt) and O₂ gas (which is reduced on the heterocarbon surface) to result in the direct formation of H₂O₂.

Engineered Graphene Materials: Synthesis and Applications for Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells

Engineered graphene materials (EGMs) with unique structures and properties have been incorporated into various components of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) such as electrode, membrane, and bipolar plates to achieve enhanced performances in terms of electrical conductivity, mechanical durability, corrosion resistance, and electrochemical surface area. This research news article provides an overview of the recent development in EGMs and EGM-based PEMFCs with a focus on the effects of EGMs on PEMFC performance when they are incorporated into different components of PEMFCs. The challenges of EGMs for practical PEMFC applications in terms of production scale, stability, conductivity, and coupling capability with other materials are also discussed and the corresponding measures and future research trends to overcome such challenges are proposed.

Molecularly Rigid Microporous Polyamine Captures and Stabilizes Conducting Platinum Nanoparticle Networks

A molecularly rigid polyamine based on a polymer of intrinsic microporosity (PIM-EA-TB) is shown to capture and stabilize platinum nanoparticles during colloid synthesis in the rigid framework. Stabilization here refers to avoiding aggregation without loss of surface reactivity. In the resulting rigid framework with embedded platinum nanoparticles, the volume ratio of platinum to PIM-EA-TB in starting materials is varied systematically from approximately 1.0 to 0.1 with the resulting platinum nanoparticle diameter varying from approximately 4.2 to 3.1 nm, respectively. Elemental analysis suggests that only a fraction of the polymer is "captured" to give nanocomposites rich in platinum. A transition occurs from electrically conducting and electrochemically active (with shorter average interparticle distance) to nonconducting and only partially electrochemically active (with longer average interparticle distance) polymer-platinum composites. The conducting nanoparticle network in the porous rigid macromolecular framework could be beneficial in electrocatalysis and in sensing applications.

Fuel cell anode catalyst performance can be stabilized with a molecularly rigid film of polymers of intrinsic microporosity (PIM)

There remains a major materials challenge in maintaining the performance of platinum (Pt) anode catalysts in fuel cells due to corrosion and blocking of active sites.