Patent Application
20080193819
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a metal catalyst for fuel cell, and a fuel cell employing the catalyst.
2. Description of the Related Art
As dispersion type fuel cells for automobiles and general domestic uses, solid polymer type fuel cells (polymer electrolyte fuel cells; hereinafter, abbreviated to PEFC) have been developed. Furthermore, direct methanol fuel cells (hereinafter, abbreviated to DMFC), which use methanol as a fuel, have been developed as the power supply for portable electronic devices. The core of these fuel cells is electrodes, including an anode pole and a cathode pole. In DMFCs, platinum is generally used as the electrode material for the cathode pole, and platinum-ruthenium is used as the electrode material for the anode pole. In PEFCs, platinum is used in both the anode pole and the cathode pole.
As such, platinum is an important constituent material for fuel cells, but platinum is expensive. Thus, it has been investigated in Journal of the Chemical Society of Japan, 1988, (8), p. 1426-1432 (Non-Patent Document 1) as to the possibility of reducing the amount of use of platinum by enhancing the performance of the catalyst.
Although the development of a catalyst having a reduced amount of platinum is on the progress as described above, the development of a catalyst surpassing platinum in the performance has not yet been achieved. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a catalyst for fuel cell which can exhibit satisfactory cell performance without using platinum.
An aspect of the invention to solve the above-described problems lies in a fuel cell using a metal cluster catalyst which is composed of a metal other than platinum, as the active element of electrode catalyst. In particular, the catalyst is a catalyst for fuel cell in which metal clusters have been supported on an electroconductive support, and has species of a metal having different valences within the metal clusters. As for the valence, it is preferable that a species having a valence of zero and a species having a valence of 2 or greater are co-present. For example, it is preferable that the metal clusters contain palladium, and the palladium includes a palladium species having a valence of zero and a palladium species having a valence greater than 2. Also, in this case, it is desirable that the proportion of the palladium atoms having a valence greater than 2 is larger than the proportion of the palladium atoms having a valence of zero.
The catalyst of the present invention can be used in any fuel cell such as PEFC or DMFC, and in any of the anode electrode and the cathode electrode. The metal cluster catalyst described above can be used while being directly supported on an electrolyte membrane. The catalyst of the present invention allows composing an electrode catalyst without using any platinum, or with a reduced amount of platinum. Thus, a catalyst with improved electrode performance per unit price of the metal used, compared to a catalyst using platinum, can be provided, and thus it is possible to reduce the production costs of fuel cells.
Another aspect of the present invention is a portable electronic device or a fuel cell system, equipped with the fuel cell described above.
According to the present invention, there can be provided a catalyst with improved electrode performance per unit price of the metal used, compared to the conventional platinum catalysts for fuel cell. Therefore, when this catalyst is applied to the electrode catalyst of a fuel cell, a fuel cell system can be realized at low production costs.
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail by way of Examples.
A fuel cell is constituted mainly of an anode electrode for oxidizing fuel, a cathode electrode for reducing oxygen, and an electrolyte membrane for transmitting hydrogen ions, disposed between the two electrodes.
The principle of operation of the fuel cell will be briefly described by taking DMFC as an example. A DMFC includes an anode pole (fuel pole) and a cathode pole (air pole). In the anode pole, as shown in expression (1), methanol as the fuel reacts with water to generate hydrogen ions (hereinafter, abbreviated to H+), electrons (hereinafter, abbreviated to e−) and CO2. On the other hand, in the cathode pole, as shown in expression (2), H+ which has permeated through an electrolyte membrane reacts with O2 in the air supplied from the outside to generate water.
Reaction at anode pole: CH3OH+H2O→6H+CO2+6e− (1)
Reaction at cathode pole: 6H++3/2O2+6e−→3H2O (2)
Electric current can be obtained by connecting the anode pole and the cathode pole with an outer circuit. The catalyst of the present invention is to activate the reactions at the anode pole and the cathode pole.
The fuel cell system of the present invention is a system having functions of reforming city gas or the like with hydrogen, generating electricity by supplying the reformed gas to a fuel cell, and supplying hot water by heating water while generating electricity. An outline of a PEFC system will be described in the following. As shown in
In a domestic PEFC system having an auto-thermal type fuel reforming apparatus, city gas 14 as a fuel and air 15 are preheated in an auxiliary combustor 5 and then supplied to the reformer 2. In the reformer 2, a reforming gas 13 containing hydrogen gas is generated under the catalytic action of a reforming catalyst. In the PEFC fuel cell 1, the anode pole is supplied with hydrogen in the reforming gas 13, while the cathode pole is supplied with oxygen in air 18, and thereby electricity is generated. If carbon monoxide is contained in the reforming gas 13, and this adsorbs onto the electrode catalyst in the anode pole, the catalytic activity of the catalyst is decreased. Thus, it is necessary to reduce carbon monoxide in the CO shift converter 3 and the CO removal unit 4, to a level of about 10 ppm or less. In the CO removal unit 4, carbon monoxide is reduced by oxidizing CO over a CO selective combustion catalyst packed in the unit, and thus oxygen required in the oxidation reaction is supplied by air 12.
The PEFC fuel cell 1 is supplied with water 17 from a coolant water tank 10, and hot water heated in the fuel cell is stored in a hot water tank 7. This hot water is further heated by a supplementary water heater 8 for domestic use. Some of the water in the hot water tank 7 is heated in a vaporizer 6, and is supplied to the reformer 2 as steam. An anode exhaust gas 11 discharged from the anode of the PEFC fuel cell 1 is separated into gas and liquid in a steam-water separator 9, and the gas portion is introduced into the auxiliary combustor 5 so that the uncombusted fraction is combusted.
The catalyst for fuel cell of the present invention is characterized in using metal clusters which have metal atoms with different valences. A metal cluster is defined as a molecule in which a group consisting of three or more metal atoms bound by metallic bonding is surrounded by ligands. The metal cluster is a family of unique compounds which is intermediate between bulk metal (simple metal substance) and metal complex. A supposed reaction mechanism occurring at the cathode of a fuel cell will be explained. Initially, Pd0 in the catalyst palladium clusters adsorbs the hydrogen ions present in the electrolyte. Then, oxidized metal ions of Pd2+ or higher, which are present adjacently to these adsorption sites, react with the adsorbed hydrogen to generate H2O. At lattice defect of oxygen formed by the leaving of oxygen, oxygen in the air supplied to the cathode pole is received, and forms the adsorption sites for hydrogen ions again. As the reaction path described above is repeated, the oxidation reaction represented by the equation (2) can be sustained.
As for the valence, it is preferable that a valence of zero and a valence of 2 or greater co-exist. In particular, it is preferable that the number of moles of a metal ion having a valence of 2 or greater is larger than the number of moles of metal having a valence of zero, and particularly in palladium, it is preferable that the ratio of the number of moles of tetravalent palladium and the number of moles of zero-valent palladium is 0.38 or greater. It is preferable that the proportion in the number of moles of a zero-valent metal species is in the range of 20 to 50%, the proportion of a divalent metal species is in the range of 20 to 50%, and the proportion of a tetravalent metal species is in the range of 10 to 50%.
The particle size of the metal cluster is preferably 160 Å or less. Particularly in the case of palladium cluster, the particle size is preferably in the range of 40 Å to 160 Å.
As for the metal cluster, any one selected from gold, tungsten, copper, cobalt, nickel, iron, manganese, palladium, rhenium, male aluminium, iridium, rhodium, ruthenium and platinum may be considered as the metal component. It is particularly preferable to use palladium. Among noble metals, platinum has the highest activity of simple metal substance, and rhodium and palladium follow platinum in the order of higher activity. Meanwhile, the reverse applies in terms of the price. Therefore, palladium is a metal of the lower price, while having a potential for increasing the activity. The content of palladium in the catalyst is preferably in the range of 5% by weight to 50% by weight.
2H2O⇄O2+4H++4e− (3)
wherein, at 1.2 V or lower, the oxygen reduction reaction represented by the expression (3) proceeds, and the reaction proceeds from the left-hand side to the right-hand side. The oxygen involved herein to react with hydrogen ions is the oxygen released from the reduction of the oxide of the catalyst metal. For example, with a Pt catalyst, the oxygen released from PtO according to the expression (2) reacts with the hydrogen ions from the expression (3) to generate H2O.
2Pt—O+4H++4e−→2H2O+2Pt (4)
Assuming that the oxygen released from metal oxide is involved, as the potential at which the oxidation state of a metal changes approaches 1.2 V as closely as possible, it becomes easier for the reaction of releasing oxygen as shown by the expression (4) to proceed. In
Pt>Ir>Pd>Rh>Ru>Os (5)
According to
Metal clusters are preferably used in a state of being directly supported on the electrolyte membrane. Typically, metal clusters are supported on carbon supports for the purpose of increasing the quantity of catalyst active site, that is, the surface area. However, because using a carbon support results in thickening of the electrode catalyst, the electric resistance increases. Also, gas diffusion is deteriorated, and thus the electrode reactions are impeded. Since the present invention uses metal clusters, which have high activity even without being dispersed on a support, there is no need to use any support.
The metal cluster catalyst preferably has an electrical quantity per unit weight of metal in the metal clusters, of 18 coulomb or larger. This electrical quantity is determined by measuring the hydrogen desorption wave by cyclic voltammetry, and calculating from the result.
Catalyst adsorption site —H→H++e− (6)
As shown in expression (6), the hydrogen adsorbed onto the catalyst active sites are converted to hydrogen ions and releases electrons. The electrical quantity at this time can be quantified by measuring the current changing with the changes in the potential, and determining from the area under peak of the hydrogen desorption wave obtained from the current measurement.
In the current Example, a production method for a catalyst having Pd clusters supported on an electroconductive carbon support will be described.
(Method for Synthesis of Pd Clusters)
Synthesis of Pd clusters was performed with reference to the method of Kaneda et al. (Langmuir, 2002, p. 1849-1855). This preparation method involves synthesizing two types of Pd4 clusters, and finally synthesizing Pd2060(NO3)360(CH3COO)360O80 clusters.
0.93 g of acetic acid palladium and 92.7 cc of acetic acid were introduced into a flask, and this flask was placed in an oil bath. The content of the flask was heated to 50° C. while stirring. This solution was subjected to bubbling of 10% —CO/N2 gas using a glass pipette as a nozzle. The flow rate of the gas was 500 cc/mini and the aeration time was 6 hours. Aeration of CO for a predetermined time resulted in the generation of a yellow precipitate on the flask bottom. The remaining acetic acid was decanted such that the yellow precipitate would not be mistakenly discarded with acetic acid, and then the residual acetic acid was exhausted in a vacuum. Vacuum exhaustion was continued further for 30 minutes from the time point where there was no acetic acid remaining behind, and thereby a dried yellow precipitate was obtained. The yellow precipitate was Pd4(CO)4(CH3COO)4.2CH3COOH (abbreviated to PCA) cluster.
0.556 g of PCA, 0.249 g of 1,10-phenanthroline monohydrate and 10 cc of acetic acid were introduced in a two-necked flask, and the mixture was stirred for 30 minutes at room temperature and at atmospheric pressure, thus to obtain Pd4(C12H8N2)2(CO)2(CH3COO)4 clusters as a precipitate.
0.015 g of Cu(NO3)2.3H2O was added to the flask, and then the flask was subjected to a vacuum. O2 gas was supplied to the flask from a tetra back equipped with a syringe needle. The flask under an oxygen atmosphere was placed in an oil bath, and the content was stirred for 25 minutes at 90° C., to obtain Pd2060(NO3)360(CH3COO)360O80 clusters as a black precipitate.
(Method for Supporting Pd2060 on Carbon Support)
A carbon support and the Pd2060(NO3)360(CH3COO)360O80 clusters were introduced into a Schlenk tube, and acetic acid was added thereto. The amount of addition of the Pd2060(NO3)360(CH3COO)360O80 clusters was adjusted such that the support rate for Pd would be 15.3% by weight. The carbon support used herein was an electroconductive carbon black support (hereinafter, C1). The resulting mixture was stirred for 3 hours at 60° C. After the stirring, acetic acid was evaporated by subjecting the Schlenk tube to a vacuum. While stirring, the content of the Schlenk tube was heated under a vacuum for 2 hours at 185° C., to fix the Pd2060(NO3)360(CH3COO)360O80 clusters, and thereby a catalyst having the Pd2060(NO3)360(CH3COO)360O80 clusters supported on a carbon black support (hereinafter, Pd2060 cluster/C1) was produced.
In addition, the fixing process may be performed by an exhaustion treatment at 25° C. instead of a heat treatment.
(Method for Supporting Pd4 on Carbon Support)
Pd4(C12H8N2)2(CO)2(CH3COO)4 clusters were supported on a carbon support by the same method, and thus a catalyst having the Pd4(C12H8N2)2(CO)2(CH3COO)4 clusters supported on a carbon black support (hereinafter, Pd4 cluster/C1) was produced.
The amount of addition of the Pd4(C12H8N2)2(CO)2(CH3COO)4 clusters was adjusted such that the support rate for Pd would be 15.3% by weight.
Next, the catalyst performance of the Pd clusters prepared in Example 1 was compared with the performance of commercially available Pt catalyst and Pd catalyst.
The method for measuring the oxygen reduction activity of the produced electrode catalyst will be described in the following. The oxygen reduction activity was measured by a rotating disk electrode method. This technique is characterized in that the activity can be evaluated while excluding the influence of diffusion, by making use of the fact that the amount of supplied reactant materials is directly proportional to the one-half power of the rotation rate ω (rad/s) of a disk electrode. The electrolyte used was a H2SO4 solution, and O2 bubbling was carried out for 1 hour or longer before measurement. The measurement temperature was 35° C. The measurement of the oxygen reduction activity was performed at a sweeping rate of 10 mV/s and a sweeping range of 0.2 to 1.1 V versus NHE. During the measurement of the oxygen reduction activity, the disk electrode of the operating electrode was rotated at various rotation speeds. The rotation speeds were 400, 625, 900, 1600 and 2500 rpm. The reduction current for oxygen increases as the rotation speed increases, because the supply amount of reactant materials increases. The relationship between the reciprocal of the current value I (mA) and the minus one-half power of the rotation rate ω (rad/s) of the electrode at a measured value of 0.7 V versus NHE is expressed by the Levich-Koutecky plot represented by expression (7).
1/i=1/ik+1/(0.320n·F·A·c.D2/3·v−1/6)·1/ω1/2 (7)
wherein iK is true kinetic current density (mA); n is the number of reacting electrons; F is the Faraday constant (C/mol); A is the geometrical area of the disk electrode (cm2); c is the concentration of reactant in the electrolyte (mol/ml); D is the diffusion coefficient of the reactant (cm2/s); v is the kinematic viscosity of the electrolyte (cm2/s), while the relationship between the rotation speed of the electrode f (rpm) and the rotation rate ω (rad/s) is ω=2πf/60. In the expression (7), the reciprocal of iK can be determined from the segment of ω−1/2=0 (ω=∞, that is, the supply amount of reactant is infinite). Therefore, the obtained iK corresponds to the net activity of the catalyst which is not affected by the diffusion of reactants. The oxygen reduction current iR, which is the performance of the air pole, was determined from expression (8).
i
R
=i
k
/W
M (8)
wherein WM is the weight (mg) of active metal in the evaluated catalyst.
The horizontal axis indicates the potential, while the vertical axis indicates the relative value of oxygen reduction current. At the same potential, as the relative value of oxygen reduction current increases, the performance of cathode electrode catalyst also increases. When the oxygen reduction current value of a Pd2060 cluster/C1 catalyst at 0.3 V was set at 1.0, the performance of the Pd2060 cluster/C1 catalyst was higher than that of a conventional Pt catalyst. The performance of the former was, for example, 2.7 times the value of the latter at 0.4 V, 2.2 times at 0.5 V, 2.3 times at 0.6 V, and 4.4 times at 0.7 V.
Next, the difference in catalyst performance as a result of the production method for Pd clusters was examined.
The Pd2060 cluster/C1 prepared in Example 1 (the vacuum heat treatment temperature was set at 185° C., and the clusters were supported on a support), and Pd2060 cluster/C1 prepared by an exhaustion treatment at 25° C. instead of a heat treatment at 185° C., were prepared. For the two types of Pd2060 clusters, the performance of the electrode catalyst for cathode was evaluated on the basis of the oxygen reduction activity.
In
The difference in the catalyst structure as a result of the differences in the preparation conditions was examined.
D=K·λ/βcosθ (9)
wherein D is the crystallite diameter (Å); λ is the wavelength of measured X-ray; β is the full width at half-maximum (rad); θ is Bragg angel (rad) of the diffraction line; and K is a constant ((in the case of full width at half-maximum, K=0.9).
While the crystallite diameter of the catalyst produced by an exhaustion treatment at 185° C. was 170 Å, the crystallite diameter of the catalyst produced by an exhaustion treatment at 25° C. was 56 Å. Thus, it was found that a size reduction to a level of one-third or less had occurred in the crystallites.
As can be seen from the results of Example 3, the catalytic activity was higher in the catalyst produced at a vacuum heat treatment temperature of 25° C. than in the catalyst produced at 185° C., and the reason is suspected to be because the Pd particles in the catalyst were micronized, and therefore the surface area increased.
A Pd2060 cluster/C1 catalyst includes palladium species having a plurality of valences. The relationship between the valence of metal and the catalytic activity was examined.
The analytic instrument used in the analysis was Model AXIS-HS manufactured by Shimadzu-KRATOS Co., Ltd. For the measurement conditions, the X-ray source was monochromatic Al (tube voltage: 15 kV, tube current: 15 mA), a hybrid lens was used (analyzed area: 600×1000 μm2), the resolution was Pass Energy 40, and the scanning speed was 20 eV/min (in step of 0.1 eV).
Catalysts No. 1 to No. 3 were produced by the production method described in Example 1, while appropriately varying the molar ratio of Cu(NO3)2.3H2O and PCA. The molar ratio of Cu(NO3)2.3H2O and PCA for No. 1 and No. 2 was 0.10, and the molar ratio of Cu(NO3)2.3H2O and PCA for No. 3 was 0.15. Catalyst No. 4 was a commercially available Pd black catalyst, which contained 99.8% or more of palladium metal.
As the ratio of the proportion of the number of moles of Pd4+ and the proportion of the number of moles of Pd0 increased, that is, as the amount of tetravalent Pd increased relative to the amount of zero-valent Pd, the oxygen reduction current increased. Therefore, it is conceived that when a catalyst is prepared such that the ratio of the proportion of the number of moles of Pd4+ and the proportion of the number of moles of Pd0 increases, the catalyst performance can be enhanced.
In addition, the relative value of oxygen reduction current of the conventional platinum catalyst is 0.43, as shown in the drawing. Thus, by rendering the proportion of the number of moles of Pd4+ and the number of moles of Pd0 to be 0.38 or greater, a catalyst having a performance superior to that of a platinum catalyst can be prepared.
Furthermore, the ratio of Pd ions with various valences was investigated for various catalysts. Table 1 shows the ratios of the number of moles of Pd ions in various catalysts. The ratio of valences for the various palladium species were determined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurement (XPS). In XPS, the valence was identified from the energy shift of each peak, and the ratio of the number of moles of each palladium ion species was quantified from the area ratio of the peaks corresponding to the respective valences. The results of determining, by XPS analysis, the proportions of the number of moles of palladium metal valences in the catalysts used in the test, are shown in Table 1.
The catalyst No. 1 (Pd2060 cluster/C1 catalyst) having the highest performance contained 34% of Pd0 and 30% of Pd4+. The catalyst No. 4 (Pd black catalyst) had low performance as clearly shown in
As can be seen from the above-described results, the catalyst No. 4 contains almost the same amount of Pd0 as that contained in the catalyst No. 1. On the other hand, these catalysts have largely different amounts of Pd4+. Thus, it is conceived that as the amount of tetravalent palladium increases, the catalytic activity is enhanced. The catalysts No. 1 to No. 3 contained 34 to 47% of Pd0, 36 to 40% of Pd2+, and 13 to 30% of Pd4+, and showed high catalytic activity. Therefore, in the case where zero-valent, divalent and tetravalent metal ions co-exist, the proportions of the zero-valent and divalent species are preferably 20 to 50%, respectively, and the proportion of the tetravalent species is preferably 10 to 50%.
A suspected reaction mechanism of the palladium cluster catalyst at the cathode of a fuel cell is conceived to be as follows. Initially, Pd0 in the palladium clusters adsorbs hydrogen ions in the electrolyte. Then, oxidized metal ions of Pd2+ or higher which are present adjacently to these adsorption sites, react with the adsorbed hydrogen to generate H2O. At lattice defect of oxygen formed by the leaving of oxygen, oxygen in the air which is supplied to the cathode pole, is received, and forms the adsorption sites for hydrogen ions again. As the reaction path described above is repeated, the oxidation reaction represented by the equation (2) can be sustained.
The catalyst performance depends on the quantity of the catalyst active site (surface area) and the quality of the catalyst active site (performance per unit surface area). As the catalyst surface area increases, there occur more sites for activating the reaction, and thus the performance is improved. In the current Example, the surface area of a catalyst active site required for exhibiting higher performance was examined.
The electric quantity per unit weight of active metal, which corresponds to the area of the H desorption peak measured for a catalyst, serves as an index representing the size of the surface area per unit weight of active metal. The electric quantities per unit weight of active metal, which correspond to the areas of the H desorption peak measured for various catalysts by cyclic voltammetry, are presented in Table 2. The unit “c” is used for the electric quantity determined from the area of the H desorption peak by cyclic voltammetry (the electric quantity becomes larger as the surface area of the active site increases). Therefore, c/g is an index representing the size of the surface area per unit weight of the catalyst.
The surface areas of the catalysts No. 2 to No. 4 are as small as 17.4 to 17.9 c/g, while the surface area of the catalyst No. 1 is as large as 22.4 c/g. Thus, when the surface area is made as large as 18 c/g or more, a catalyst having higher performance can be provided.
Next, the performance of Pd4 clusters will be described.
The Pd4 cluster/C1 catalyst prepared by the method of Example 1, a currently commercially available Pt catalyst, and a Pd black catalyst were compared for the catalytic activity. The Pt catalyst contained 50% of platinum metal, and carbon black for the balance. The vacuum heat treatment temperature of the Pd4 cluster/C1 catalyst was 185° C.
In
Next, the prices per performance for various catalysts were compared. Although the metal price fluctuates, the price of Pt in around July of year 2006 was 4445 (¥/g), and the price of Pd of then was 1160 (¥/g).
The price of an active metal required for obtaining an oxygen reduction current of 1 A (¥/A) was determined from expression (10).
Price of active metal required for obtaining oxygen reduction current of 1 A (¥/A)=C/iR (10) (wherein iR is the oxidation reduction current generated per unit weight of catalyst (A/g); and C is the price per unit weight of the catalyst (¥/g)).
Furthermore, the amount of supported platinum in a conventional platinum catalyst is 50% by weight. As can be seen from the results of
The performance results obtained in the case of applying the catalyst of the present invention to the anode pole of a PEFC fuel cell, are presented in Table 3. Since the weight of noble metal per unit area of electrode varies in the respective cases, the performance per unit weight was evaluated so as to correctly compare the cell performance under the same conditions, and the results are shown in Table 3. C1 is a commercially available Vulcan XC-72R support, and C2 is a Ketjenblack support. The performance of the Pd2060/C1 catalyst was equivalent to that of the Pt catalyst, while the performance of the Pd2060/C2 catalyst was about 90% of that of the Pt catalyst. As such, the Pd catalyst of the present invention can be applied to cathode catalysts, as well as to anode catalysts.
The Pd2060/C1 catalyst was observed under a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM).
The catalyst of the present Example is not likely to deteriorate. In the case where Pd particles have formed colonies as described above, it is suspected that the interior can hardly be brought into contact with a reactant gas, particularly with oxygen in air, and thus Pd which is the active site, is not likely to undergo oxidation, thereby the performance being possibly maintained. The Pd clusters exiting inside the colonies are protected from the oxygen atmosphere. During the operation of the cell, oxygen in the air as a reactant gas reacts only with the Pd clusters on the surface of the colonies, and there exist more of unreacted Pd particles in the inside. Therefore, Pd0 required in the reaction remains behind at a high proportion for a long time, and thus high cell performance can be maintained sustainedly. That is, by using a catalyst such as that of the current Example, the lifespan of the catalyst can be extended, and a highly reliable catalyst can be obtained.
In addition, in the case of producing Pd clusters using acetic acid according to the production method described in Example 1, the particle size range of the secondary particles of the Pd clusters is from 500 to 5,000 Å. In this regard, when an amine-based solvent is used, colonies constituted of secondary particles were not formed, because the dispersibility of Pd particles formed from the clusters becomes enhanced.
The particle size of the carbon support is approximately in the range of 200 to 1,000 Å. It is believed that the Pd clusters form secondary particles, and the carbon support enhances the dispersibility of the catalyst which have not formed colonies. Also, a solid polymer type fuel cell uses an assembly of a positive pole and a negative pole bonded on the opposing sides of an electrolyte membrane (MEA; membrane electrode assembly). The metal clusters of the present Example can be supported on the electrolyte membrane and can be used as an MEA. During the production of electrodes, mixing of carbon support particles makes it easier for the catalyst to be supported on the electrolyte membrane, and thus production of electrodes is made easier, which is preferable.
Furthermore, although the above-described Examples discuss Pd catalysts, Ir, Ru and Os can also be used to prepare metal clusters containing atoms having different valences, in the same manner as in Pd catalysts. Thus, these metals also have potential to be used to prepare the clusters of the present invention.
Next, a catalyst having improved dispersibility was produced by making the colonies of the catalyst smaller. In order to improve the dispersibility of a catalyst, it is effective to incorporate a dispersant or to change the solvent during the production.
The method of producing a catalyst with high dispersibility is as follows. A carbon support and Pd2060(NO3)360(CH3COO)360O80 clusters were introduced into a Schlenk tube, and an organic solvent containing a nitrogen atom or a sulfur atom, such as pyridine or dimethylsulfoxide, was added thereto. These solvents have high polarity and can enhance the dispersibility of clusters. The amount of addition of the Pd2060(NO3)360(CH3COO)360O80 clusters was adjusted such that the Pd support ratio would be 43.7% by weight. The carbon support used herein was an electroconductive carbon black support (hereinafter, C1). This mixture was stirred for 1 hour at room temperature. After the stirring, the mixture was filtered to separate the solvent and the catalyst. The catalyst was dried by air at room temperature for one whole day, and thus a catalyst having Pd2060(NO3)360(CH3COO)360O80 clusters supported on a carbon black support (hereinafter, Pd2060 cluster/C1) was prepared.
Therefore, it is possible to provide a catalyst with even higher performance, by increasing the dispersibility of the palladium cluster catalyst, and thereby increasing the ratio of primary particles.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007-031536 | Feb 2007 | JP | national |
