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Aerogel and metallic compositions

a technology of metallic compositions and aerogels, applied in the field of aerogel compositions, can solve the problems of insufficient control over the manner in which metallic particles are formed, compositions with inconsistent metal particle sizes, and broad particle size distributions, and achieve the effect of enhancing performance or equivalency

Inactive Publication Date: 2007-06-21
AEROGEL COMPOSITE LLC +1
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0016] By virtue of the present invention, it is now possible to utilize less metal, e.g., platinum, in the aerogel compositions than used in coventional aerogel compositions, and still provide equivalent or enhanced performance in catalytic applications, e.g., PEM fuel cells.

Problems solved by technology

Processes such as described above often have inadequate control over the manner in which the metallic particles are incorporated, thereby providing aerogel compositions having inconsistent metal particle sizes and broad particle size distributions.
This has been one of the factors which have inhibited the commercialization of aerogels, particularly for use in PEM fuel cells which currently require large amount of platinum to obtain an acceptable level of performance.

Method used

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Examples

Experimental program
Comparison scheme
Effect test

example 1

Preperation of RF Aerogels

[0064] The RF aerogels were synthesized by the reaction of resorcinol with formaldehyde. For each run, 2 grams (“g”) of resorcinol was dissolved in 2.38 g of water in a test tube. Subsequently, 0.019 g of sodium carbonate and 2.95 g of formaldehyde solution were added.

[0065] The tube was then sealed by a rubber stopper and the contents mixed by shaking. The tube was kept at room temperature for one(1) day, at 50° C. for one (1) day and at 90° C. for three (3) days. At the end of the first day, the solution in the tube gelled and had a yellow-orange color. The gel progressively became darker during the curing period and was dark red-black in the end. At the end of the 90° C. period, the monolith was taken out of the test tube and immersed in approximately 200 milliliters (“ml”) acetone. There it was kept for a period of two (2) days. Subsequently, acetone was extracted supercritically.

[0066] Supercritical carbon dioxide extraction was conducted using a hi...

example 2

Acetone—Water Exchange

[0074] To investigate the effect of immersion time in acetone, 3 monoliths were prepared using the procedure and reactant compositions given above in Example 1. One sample was left for one (1) day, one sample was left for two (2) days and one sample was left for five days in an acetone bath followed by a one hour sonication in fresh acetone. Subsequently, acetone was extracted from the samples using supercritial carbon dioxide as described above in Example 1.

[0075] After depressurization, the weights of the pellets ranged from 2.84 to 2.90 g indicating that immersion time in acetone had no effect on the amount of water displaced. It is belived that sonication of the samples in acetone accelerated the acetone-water exchange process dramatically.

example 3

Preparation of Carbon Aerogels

[0076] RF aerogels made in accordance with Example 1 were converted to carbon aerogels by pyrolysis in an inert nitrogen atmosphere. RF aerogel in monolithic form was placed in a quartz tube. The quartz tube was paced in a tubular oven. One end of the tube was connected to a nitrogen cylinder.

[0077] The flow rate of the nitrogen was controlled using a needle valve placed after the regulator. The other end of the tube was connected to a soap bubble meter to measure the flow rate of nitrogen. The flow rate of nitrogen was adjusted to 100 cm3 / min and the oven was heated to 1000° C. under flowing nitrogen. The heating rate was approximately 5° C. / min. The temperature inside the oven reached 1020° C. in approximately six (6) hours.

[0078] The oven was kept at this temperature for another five (5) hours. Subsequently, the oven was turned off and cooled overnight with nitrogen flowing. The material removed from the tube was black and its size appeared to hav...

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Abstract

Metallic aerogel compositions comprising an aerogel, e.g., RF or carbon aerogel, having metallic particles dispersed on its surface are disclosed. The aerogel compositions can have a uniform distribution of small metallic particles, e.g., 1 nanometer average particle diameter. Also disclosed are processes for making the aerogel compositions comprising contacting an aerogel with a supercritical fluid containing a metallic compound. The aerogel compositions are useful, for example in the manufacture of fuel cell electrodes.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application is a continuation application of Ser. No. 10 / 327,300 filed Dec. 20, 2002, which claims priority from the following patent applications: U.S. Ser. No. 60 / 343,700, filed on Dec. 27, 2001, U.S. Ser. No. 60 / 390,174, filed on Jun. 19, 2002, and U.S. Ser. No. 60 / 412,755, filed on Sep. 23, 2002.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention generally relates to aerogel compositions and more specifically to aerogels having metallic particles dispersed therein, e,g, carbon aerogels loaded with platinum, and their preparation. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Aerogels, are porous materials that are produced by polycondensation reactions known in the art as the “sol-gel process”. A common feature among aerogels is their small inter-connected pores. The aerogel chemical composition, microstructure and physical properties can be controlled at the nanometer scale due to sol-gel processing. There are three major types of aerogel...

Claims

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Application Information

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IPC IPC(8): B01J21/08B01J21/18B01J23/40B01J35/10B01J37/02B01J37/03B01J37/08C04B14/34C04B20/00C04B30/00C04B38/00C04B41/50H01M4/88H01M4/90H01M4/92
CPCB01J21/18B01J23/40B01J35/10B01J35/1023B01J35/1042B01J35/1047B01J35/1061B01J37/0203B01J37/03B01J37/084C04B14/34C04B20/0056C04B30/00C04B38/0022C04B41/009C04B41/5001C04B2111/00413C04B2111/00853H01M4/9008H01M4/9075H01M4/9083H01M4/923H01M4/925H01M4/926Y02E60/50C04B35/52C04B38/0045C04B38/009C04B41/0072C04B41/4554C04B41/4582C04B41/51C04B2103/007C04B14/386C04B20/008C04B14/028C04B14/064C04B14/302B01J35/617B01J35/60B01J35/638B01J35/635B01J35/647B01J37/02B82Y30/00
Inventor ERKEY, CANHARA, HIROAKI
Owner AEROGEL COMPOSITE LLC
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