Grant: Strategic Projects - Group

Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC) hold promise as power supplies for zero emission vehicles and as sources of stationary power. Canada has a strong presence in PEMFC research, development and manufacturing. Nevertheless, there still remain significant barriers to the production and use of low-cost fuel cells. One of these is the high cost and limited lifetime of noble metal catalysts (primarily Pt) presently used in the fuel cell. There has been an intense world-wide search for non-noble metal alternatives to Pt over the last few years, of which we have been a part. Transition-metal-carbon-nitrogen (TM-C-N) materials have been identified that are promising as replacements for Pt. This research project focuses on the search for and understanding of non-noble metal catalysts, primarily TM-C-N, for the PEMFC using the techniques of Combinatorial and High Throughput Materials Science (CMS) where many different materials are synthesized and tested in a single experiment. Our laboratory has build up a significant CMS infrastructure using investments from CFI, NSRIT and NSERC. For the last three years, beginning with virtually no prior experience, under a Strategic Project grant, we have been investigating non-noble metal catalysts (NNMC) using CMS along with collaborators at 3M and 3M Canada. We are the first laboratory to produce highly active NNMC as sputtered thin-films. We have developed significant expertise and understanding of these systems which has been disseminated. Many questions regarding these catalysts remain, some of which must be answered before commercial viability is possible. What is the catalytic site? What is the catalytic mechanism? Are the numerous "different" TM-C-N NNMC prepared by numerous groups around the world actually one and the same? How durable are these catalysts - that is will they last long enough for fuel cell applications? Can better NNMC catalysts be found? This proposal addresses these issues.