Project Title:
10.01-9030
Project Title:10.01-9030
Company:Physical Sciences Inc
ANdover, MA 01810
Principal Investigator:E. Jennings Taylor
Abstract:
We propose to prepare a material in which a highly dispersed catalyst is chemically
bonded to a carbon filament support material for use in the farication of cathodes
for alkaline fuel cells. The carbon filaments will be grown on gold or gold alloy
catalysts from hot flowing gases. The electro-catalyst is expected to exhibit the
improved sintering and corrosion resistance needed for pressurized alkaline fuel
cell operation. These materials will be produced from a variety of hot gas environments
as well as from various dispersed catalyst precursors. The atmospheric and pressurized
corrosion behavior of these materials in hot potassium hydroxide will be determined
and compared to various carbon and heat treated carbon baseline materials. The potential
benefits from the proposed chemically grown gold-carbon material are threefold:
1)chemical bonding of gold to the carbon support resulting in less mobility and hence
greater sintering resistance, 2)a carbon with improved resistance to electrochemical
oxidation, and 3)strong-metal-support-interaction (SMSI) effects which could result
in greater oxygen reduction activity.