40 results about "Direct methanol fuel cell" patented technology

The utility model discloses a hydrogen production and power generation coupling system based on methanol concentration difference, which relates to the technical field of methanol electrolysis hydrogen production and comprises a methanol electrolysis hydrogen production reactor, a methanol water supply unit, a direct methanol fuel cell and an energy storage cell, the methanol water supply unit provides methanol water required by hydrogen production for the methanol electrolysis hydrogen production reactor, and a water outlet of the methanol electrolysis hydrogen production reactor is communicated with a water inlet of the direct methanol fuel cell, so that low-concentration methanol water output by the methanol electrolysis hydrogen production reactor is input into the direct methanol fuel cell for power generation; the direct methanol fuel cell, the energy storage cell and the methanol electrolysis hydrogen production reactor are sequentially in circuit connection. According to the methanol electrolysis hydrogen production reactor, the high-concentration methanol aqueous solution is used for electrolysis hydrogen production, the output low-concentration methanol aqueous solution serves as a raw material for power generation of the direct methanol fuel cell, the direct methanol fuel cell generates power and then supplies the power for hydrogen production of the methanol electrolysis hydrogen production reactor, an external power source is not needed for power supply, and the system efficiency is high.

This invention discloses a method for coupling a vanadium-based energy storage medium to a fuel cell, relating to the technical field of batteries. The method includes the following steps: a vanadium-based energy storage medium, a fuel cell, and a coupling system. This invention combines the oxidation of vanadium-based energy storage materials with CO2 reduction to form an electrolytic cell. Formic acid or methanol, obtained from the reduction of CO2 at the cathode, is then used as the reactant at the anode of the formic acid or methanol fuel cell, achieving stable power output and time-controlled operation. Since formic acid is a liquid at room temperature, has low toxicity, and possesses a higher electromotive force than hydrogen and methanol, formic acid fuel cells have greater potential and application range compared to hydrogen and methanol fuel cells, enabling stable energy output. Furthermore, by coupling the vanadium-based energy storage medium with a direct methanol fuel cell, efficient storage and full utilization of methanol are achieved, effectively reducing the negative impacts of methanol permeation and improving battery stability and energy output in practical applications.

The application belongs to the technical field of new energy materials and electrochemical catalysis, and provides an oxygen vacancy-rich nitrogen-doped nickel phosphide / cerium oxide composite catalyst, a preparation method and application thereof. A foam nickel is used as a working electrode, a platinum sheet is used as a counter electrode, and a Hg / HgO electrode is used as a reference electrode. In an electrolyte solution containing a nickel salt and a cerium salt, electrodeposition is performed to obtain a precursor. The precursor includes the foam nickel and cerium and nickel deposited on the foam nickel. The precursor is soaked in a tannic acid solution to obtain an impregnated precursor. Ammonium hypophosphite is placed upstream, and the impregnated precursor placed downstream is subjected to phosphorus nitride doping treatment to obtain the oxygen vacancy-rich nitrogen-doped nickel phosphide / cerium oxide composite catalyst. The obtained oxygen vacancy-rich nitrogen-doped nickel phosphide / cerium oxide composite catalyst exhibits excellent electrocatalytic performance for methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) and can be used as a high-efficiency anode catalyst for a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC).

The invention discloses PtPdRuCuNi alloy aerogel and application of the PtPdRuCuNi alloy aerogel modified by PTFE to a DMFC as a catalyst layer, the PtPdRuCuNi alloy aerogel is prepared through the following steps: step 1, taking aqueous solutions of a Pt metal salt precursor, a Pd metal salt precursor, a Ru metal salt precursor, a Cu metal salt precursor and a Ni metal salt precursor, and uniformly mixing to obtain a mixed solution; step 2, adding a NaBH4 aqueous solution into the mixed solution obtained in the step 1, uniformly stirring, and standing for full reaction to obtain a solution containing PtPdRuCuNi pentabasic alloy aerogel; and step 3, removing the PtPdRuCuNi quinary alloy aerogel in the step 2, taking out the PtPdRuCuNi quinary alloy aerogel from the solution, and washing and drying the PtPdRuCuNi quinary alloy aerogel to obtain the PtPdRuCuNi alloy aerogel. And a hydrophobic agent PTFE is further introduced, so that a water transmission channel of the cathode catalyst layer of the direct methanol fuel cell is optimized, the oxygen transmission resistance is reduced, and the oxygen transmission efficiency and the power density of the membrane electrode are improved.

The invention belongs to the field of fuel cells, and provides a numerical simulation optimization method and system for a direct methanol fuel cell, and the method comprises the steps: determining a flow field geometric structure which is set as a snakelike topological path formed by continuous multiple sections of turn-back units; and determining the initial methanol permeation current density, and performing dynamic iteration on the initial methanol permeation current density to determine the real-time permeation current density of methanol diffusion in the flow field geometric structure. A dynamic permeation current density iterative algorithm is provided, electrochemical reaction and mass transfer processes are coupled in real time, permeation current density is updated in real time and coupled to cathode overpotential calculation, permeation current prediction errors are reduced to below 0.78%, and compared with the prior art, the precision is improved by more than 6 times.

The present invention belongs to the field of direct methanol fuel cells, and specifically relates to a Pt / Ag / g-C3N4 catalytic electrode, a preparation method thereof, and an application thereof. The Pt / Ag / g-C3N4 catalytic electrode comprises an inert electrode and Pt / Ag / g-C3N4 immobilized on the inert electrode. The present invention first immobilizes Ag / g-C3N4 on the inert electrode by a drop coating method, and then immobilizes Pt on the electrode by electroplating using the coordination effect of Pt and g-C3N4, thereby obtaining a Pt / Ag / g-C3N4 catalytic electrode. The Pt / Ag / g-C3N4 catalytic electrode provided by the present invention not only has a simple preparation method and mild and controllable reaction conditions, but also has good stability and catalytic activity. It can be directly used as an electrocatalytic anode of a methanol fuel cell for the catalytic oxidation of methanol. It is easy to use and has good promotion prospects.

The invention relates to the field of batteries, and discloses a multifunctional zinc air battery / methanol fuel cell material and a preparation method and application thereof.The battery material is of a polyhedral structure and comprises a cobalt-nitrogen-carbon material, the surface of the cobalt-nitrogen-carbon material is loaded with precious metal elements, and the precious metal elements are loaded on the surface of the cobalt-nitrogen-carbon material. The cobalt-nitrogen-carbon material is doped with transition metal elements, the prepared battery material has excellent HER, OER, ORR and MOR catalytic activity under the alkaline condition, after the battery material is prepared into a zinc-air battery, cyclic charging and discharging can reach 100 h or above, the power density can reach 120 mW * cm <-2 > or above, the energy density can reach 800 mA * h * g <-1 > Zn or above, and after the battery material is prepared into a direct methanol fuel battery, the energy density can reach 800 mA * h * g <-1 > Zn or above. According to the invention, the open-circuit voltage does not exceed 0.74 V, the power density is high and can reach more than 10 mW.cm <-2 >, the constant-current discharge stability is good, and the constant-current discharge time at 0.25 mA. Cm <-2 > can reach more than 1000 s.

The application belongs to the technical field of electrochemical catalyst materials, and particularly relates to a method for preparing a Pt-N-C catalyst by using a nitrogen doping strategy and application. The method uses preparation of emeraldine base polyaniline (EB-PANI), and a precursor is complexed in the EB-PANI chain in a coordination form, and then the complex is subjected to a high-temperature carbonization reaction to obtain a fibrous Pt-N-C catalyst. The application enhances the binding force between Pt and the substrate by using the nitrogen-doped carbon strategy, and simultaneously dopes N into the Pt nanolattice, so that the prepared Pt-N-C catalyst has significantly improved oxygen reduction reaction catalytic activity and stability, and has certain practical value for improving the performance of a direct methanol fuel cell.

The application discloses a method for synthesizing Au-Pt nanowire arrays by an electrochemical deposition method on carbon paper with aniline as a ligand and application thereof, and can be applied to methanol electro-oxidation reaction. After growing gold nanowire arrays on a conductive substrate by using an electrochemical deposition method with aniline as a ligand, Au-Pt nanowires are synthesized by a secondary electro-deposition mode. The electrochemical deposition has controllable reduction capacity, convenient operation and environmental friendliness. The combination of gold nanowires and platinum (Pt) can significantly improve the activity of a catalyst. The diameter of gold-platinum nanowires prepared by the electrochemical deposition method assisted by an aniline ligand can reach 30 nanometers. The increase in the size is helpful to expand the electrochemical active surface area, thereby enhancing the electron transmission efficiency and further improving the electro-catalytic performance. The gold nanowires are integrated into platinum-based nanomaterials, and for an anode catalyst of a direct methanol fuel cell, the gold nanowires can significantly improve the catalytic efficiency of a methanol oxidation reaction.

The utility model discloses a methanol-water concentration proportioning system based on membrane permeation, which relates to the technical field of direct methanol fuel cells, and comprises a diaphragm liquid mixing tank, the diaphragm liquid mixing tank comprises a first end plate, a proton exchange membrane and a second end plate, the side surface of the first end plate is provided with a methanol cavity, the side surface of the second end plate is provided with a water mixing cavity, and the proton exchange membrane is arranged in the water mixing cavity. The proton exchange membrane is clamped between the first end plate and the second end plate and divides the methanol cavity and the water mixing cavity into two sides, and methanol in the methanol cavity can permeate into the water mixing cavity through the proton exchange membrane. According to the mechanism that the proton exchange membrane allows methanol molecules to diffuse due to a hydrophilic channel, so that the methanol permeability is high, the interior of the diaphragm liquid mixing tank is divided into the methanol cavity and the water mixing cavity through the proton exchange membrane, and part of methanol on the side of the methanol cavity permeates into the water mixing cavity through the proton exchange membrane; the methanol water concentration required by the direct methanol fuel cell is directly prepared, the operation is simple, and the methanol water concentration is easy to control.

The invention discloses a bifunctional catalyst for a direct methanol fuel cell, a structural unit of the bifunctional catalyst takes a carbon nanotube as a conductive substrate, defects are introduced on the surface through dielectric barrier discharge, and high-entropy alloy nanoparticles consisting of five transition metal elements are loaded on the surface. The preparation method comprises the following steps: S1, preparing a carbon nano tube marked as CNT (at) CC; s2, defects are manufactured on the surface of the CNT (at) CC through the dielectric barrier discharge technology, and a carbon nano tube rich in defects is obtained and marked as p-CNT (at) CC; s3, synthesizing multi-element high-entropy alloy nano-particles through an oil bath method, and recording the multi-element high-entropy alloy nano-particles as HEA NPs; and S4, loading HEA NPs on the p-CNT (at) CC prepared in the step S2, and carrying out Ar / NH3 plasma treatment to prepare the direct methanol fuel cell bifunctional catalyst, which is recorded as P-HEA-p-CNT (at) CC. By improving the charge transfer efficiency, reducing the reaction energy barrier, improving the electrocatalytic activity and selectivity, improving the ORR and MOR reaction performance, and improving the cycle stability and charge-discharge performance.

The invention relates to the technical field of fuel cell low-temperature starting control, in particular to a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) power station rapid low-temperature starting system and method. The system comprises a main controller, a methanol supply subsystem, an electric pile, a lithium battery heating subsystem and a temperature detection subsystem. The main controller constructs a thermal state vector and predicts temperature change based on a discrete thermal network model, the optimal heat supply power meeting energy budget and thermal safety constraint is solved in a prediction window, the optimal heat supply power is mapped into pulse frequency, duty ratio and heat supply routing variables, and partition heat supply of the methanol hot area and the electric pile hot area is achieved; and meanwhile, the lithium battery pack is subjected to self-preheating under the low-temperature condition, and pipeline freezing and air blocking are prevented through emptying and reperfusion closed-loop control. Smooth temperature rise and accurate power distribution can be achieved in the low-temperature environment, starting energy consumption and battery impact are reduced, the safety of the electric pile and the starting success rate are improved, and the method is suitable for reliable operation of a power station-level DMFC system.

The invention provides a platinum-bismuth alloy catalyst, a preparation method thereof and a direct methanol fuel cell, and belongs to the technical field of electrochemical catalysts. The method comprises the following steps: mixing carbon black with an acidic aqueous solution, and sequentially carrying out acidizing treatment and roasting treatment to obtain pretreated carbon black; mixing the pretreated carbon black, Bi2O2CO3, a platinum source, a precipitant, a pH regulator, a first dispersing agent and first water, and performing replacement reaction to obtain a suspension; mixing a reducing agent, a second dispersing agent and second water to obtain a mixed solution; dropwise adding the suspension into the mixed solution for reduction reaction to obtain a catalyst precursor; and calcining the catalyst precursor under first protective gas to obtain the platinum-bismuth alloy catalyst. The prepared platinum-bismuth alloy catalyst has excellent electro-catalytic performance, shows relatively high catalytic activity and cycling stability, and can be applied to oxygen reduction reaction of a cathode of a direct methanol fuel cell.

The present invention relates to a proton exchange membrane containing PVDF in powder form, said PVDF being irradiated, grafted and phosphonated, to the method for preparing said membrane, and to the use of said membrane in fields requiring ion exchange, such as electrochemistry or energy-related fields. In particular, this membrane is used in the design of fuel cell membranes, such as proton-conducting membranes for fuel cells operating with H2 / air or H2 / O2 (these cells being known by the abbreviation PEMFC for "Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell") or operating with methanol / air (these cells being known by the abbreviation DMFC for "Direct Methanol Fuel Cell").

The application relates to a direct methanol fuel cell module, which comprises an anode end plate, a cell array and a cathode end plate arranged in sequence, the side of the anode end plate facing the cell array is provided with a fuel flow channel groove, the cell array comprises a substrate and a plurality of cell units, the substrate is provided with a plurality of mounting through holes and a plurality of first circuit through holes, each cell unit comprises an anode current collector, a membrane electrode and a cathode current collector arranged in sequence, each membrane electrode is embedded in a mounting through hole in a corresponding mode, and the anode side of the membrane electrode faces the anode end plate, a conductor is arranged in the first circuit through hole, and the two ends of the conductor are connected with the anode current collector and the cathode current collector of different cell units respectively, so that the plurality of cell units are connected in series. The application realizes the series connection between the cell units and is easy to integrate, and the applicability of the direct methanol fuel cell in the field of portable electronic devices is effectively improved.

The invention relates to a direct methanol fuel cell membrane electrode structure based on a transfer printing method and a preparation method of the direct methanol fuel cell membrane electrode structure. The anode catalyst layer is attached to one side of the proton exchange membrane, and the anode gas diffusion layer is hot-pressed on the outer side of the anode catalyst layer; the cathode catalyst layer is attached to the other side of the proton exchange membrane; and the cathode gas diffusion layer is hot-pressed on the outer side of the cathode catalyst layer.

The application provides a direct methanol fuel cell bifunctional catalyst, which takes carbon cloth loaded with nitrogen-doped tungsten carbide nanometer array as a conductive substrate, and platinum-nickel alloy nanochain is wound on the high-conductivity tungsten carbide substrate. A preparation method of the direct methanol fuel cell bifunctional catalyst comprises the following steps: (1) preparing carbon cloth loaded with nitrogen-doped tungsten carbide nanometer array; (2) performing surface treatment through PECVD; (3) synthesizing Pt-Ni alloy polyhedral nanochain through hydrothermal reaction; (4) loading the Pt-Ni alloy polyhedral nanochain on the carbon cloth loaded with nitrogen-doped tungsten carbide nanometer array through self-adsorption; (5) annealing after calcination in air, nitrogen and argon-hydrogen gas in sequence; (6) performing second PECVD treatment, and the direct methanol fuel cell bifunctional catalyst is obtained. The prepared product has the characteristics of high conductivity, high specific surface area and good electrochemical performance. The LSV curve of MOR catalytic performance shows that the current density is obviously improved.

A self-powered methanol concentration sensing system for a direct methanol fuel cell belongs to the technical field of methanol concentration sensing for fuel cells. The present invention is proposed to address the problem that existing methanol concentration sensors cannot achieve self-power supply and are costly. It includes a fuel cell voltage detection module, which uses a shunt resistor to detect the operating voltage provided by the fuel cell, and uses an operational amplifier to obtain the amplified value of the operating voltage as the voltage feedback value of the fuel cell; a power management module, which uses a maximum power tracking point algorithm based on the operating voltage to periodically disconnect the fuel cell from the load and measure the current open circuit voltage of the fuel cell, and by adjusting the ratio of the operating voltage to the current open circuit voltage, the fuel cell operates at maximum power; a display module, which is used to convert the voltage feedback value into a current signal, and then determine the current methanol concentration of the fuel cell based on the current signal and display it. The present invention is used for methanol concentration detection in fuel cells.

The invention discloses an acid-base synergistic proton exchange membrane for a direct methanol fuel cell and a preparation method, and belongs to the technical field of materials. The preparation method comprises the following steps: blending a polyvinyl alcohol solution and a chitosan solution, adding a cross-linking agent 2-phosphonobutane-1, 2, 4-tricarboxyl, preparing a membrane, and heating and cross-linking again to prepare the acid-base synergistic proton exchange membrane for the direct methanol fuel cell. The invention also discloses the acid-base synergistic proton exchange membrane for the direct methanol fuel cell, which is prepared by the method. The number of acid-base pairs in the membrane is controlled through ingenious material selection and structural design, and the novel composite membrane which is excellent in proton conductivity, methanol barrier property, mechanical strength, dimensional stability and the like is prepared through a one-step method. And a new choice with important application value is provided for proton exchange membrane materials in the fields of direct methanol fuel cells and the like.

The application provides a high-entropy intermetallic compound bifunctional catalyst and a preparation method and application thereof, and belongs to the technical field of energy materials. The high-entropy intermetallic compound bifunctional catalyst is prepared by combining a wet chemical synthesis method with a controllable annealing process. The catalyst has carbon-supported platinum-cobalt-copper-tungsten-molybdenum quinary high-entropy alloy nanoparticles. The alloy nanoparticles have high-entropy effect and ordered structure at the same time. The particle size is 4-7 nm, and the molar ratio of metal atoms is platinum: cobalt: copper: tungsten: molybdenum = 4: (1.75-2.5): (1.75-2.5): (0.01-0.5): (0.01-0.5). The platinum loading in the catalyst is 20-70 wt%, and the catalyst is used for catalyzing oxygen reduction reaction in a cathode of a hydrogen fuel cell and / or catalyzing methanol oxidation reaction in an anode of a direct methanol fuel cell. The half-wave potential of the catalyst in an acidic medium is more than 30 mV higher than that of a commercial Pt / C catalyst, and the methanol oxidation peak current density is 1.4-2.5 times that of a commercial Pt / C catalyst or a commercial PtRu / C catalyst.

The application discloses a Pt-CuGaO2 / C composite catalyst for an anode of a direct methanol fuel cell and a preparation method thereof; the catalyst takes a copper gallium oxide with a structure of ABO2 as a carrier of nano platinum, and the loading of the nano platinum is 5-15 wt.%; during the preparation, the copper gallium oxide carrier is synthesized by a hydrothermal method, the nano platinum is reduced by a polyol heating method, and the carbon powder is loaded by a microwave intermittent reaction method, so that the Pt-CuGaO2 / C composite direct methanol fuel cell anode catalyst with high efficiency and stability is obtained; the 5 wt.% catalyst obtains a 653.4 mA / mg Pt ‑1 mass activity, 2.53 mA / cm 2 specific activity of 25.83 m 2 A / g of electrochemical active area, and a ratio (I f / I b ) of a forward peak current density to a reverse peak current density of an index of carbon monoxide poisoning resistance is 1.50; all the catalytic activity indexes are better than those of a commercial Pt / C catalyst, and the Pt-CuGaO2 / C composite direct methanol fuel cell anode catalyst has a potential application prospect.

The invention provides a wearable miniature direct methanol fuel cell flexible array. The lithium ion battery comprises a flexible packaging layer, a plurality of cathode plate reversely-buckled single batteries and a circuit board, the negative electrode plate reversely-buckled single battery comprises a positive electrode plate, a membrane electrode, a reversely-buckled negative electrode plate and a positive electrode end plate; a through groove is formed in the center of the anode end plate, and a plurality of clamping grooves are formed in the upper end surface; the reversely-buckled cathode plate is of an integrally-formed structure and comprises a cathode plate body and extension arms with the same number as the clamping grooves. The extension arm extends into the clamping groove of the anode end plate from the outer side edge of the cathode plate body, and the anode end plate, the anode plate and the membrane electrode are wrapped by the extension arm. The contradiction between light weight and assembly pressure is solved through the reverse buckling type polar plate structure, mechanical flexibility is achieved by combining broken line wire bridging and flexible material split packaging, the sealing reliability is guaranteed through the limiting groove and the integrated pouring technology, and the flexible array makes breakthroughs in energy density, mechanical adaptability and cruising ability.

The present invention relates to the technical field of fuel cells and specifically discloses a direct methanol fuel cell membrane electrode complex and a preparation method thereof. The preparation method comprises dissolving 4,4'-(9-fluorenylene)diphenylamine, terephthalic acid, 2,5-diaminobenzenesulfonic acid and anhydrous LiCl in N-methylpyrrolidone, pyridine and triphenyl phosphite, heating and stirring under an argon atmosphere, precipitating, washing and drying to obtain polyamide, preparing a proton exchange membrane, and coating an anode catalyst and a cathode catalyst on both sides of the proton exchange membrane to obtain a catalyst-loaded proton exchange membrane; hot-pressing the anode diffusion layer, the catalyst-loaded proton exchange membrane and the cathode diffusion layer to obtain a membrane electrode complex, and stacking the anode diffusion layer and the cathode diffusion layer to obtain a battery membrane electrode complex. The membrane electrode complex of the direct methanol fuel cell prepared by the method has low methanol permeability and can adapt to higher concentrations of methanol. At the same time, the preparation process is simple, and the time cost of testing is reduced.

The application belongs to the technical field of electrocatalysis, and particularly relates to a single-atom modified multi-element nano-alloy catalyst preparation and methanol fuel cell application. The application first synthesizes a chromium single-atom catalyst (Cr-SAC), then uses the Cr-SAC as a carrier substrate, and uses an electrochemical deposition method to load palladium (Pd), cobalt (Co) and nickel (Ni) metal precursors, and finally obtains a single-atom modified multi-element nano-alloy catalyst PdCoNi / Cr-SAC. The single-atom modified multi-element nano-alloy catalyst synthesized by the method has good conductivity, the single atoms and the multi-element nano-alloy are uniformly distributed on the substrate, the active sites are dense, the CO poisoning resistance is strong, and the catalytic activity and stability of the methanol oxidation reaction are improved, so that the direct methanol fuel cell with the PdCoNi / Cr-SAC catalyst as the anode has super-high energy conversion efficiency and long-term operation stability.

The invention discloses a method for synthesizing an Au-Pt nanowire array on carbon paper through an electrochemical deposition method by taking aniline as a ligand and application of the Au-Pt nanowire array, the method can be applied to methanol electrooxidation reaction, and after the Au nanowire array is directly grown on a conductive substrate through the electrochemical deposition method by taking the aniline as the ligand, Au-Pt nanowires are synthesized in a secondary electrodeposition mode. The electrochemical deposition has controllable reduction capacity, operation convenience and environmental friendliness. The combination of the gold nanowires and platinum (Pt) can significantly improve the activity of the catalyst. The diameter of the gold-platinum nanowire prepared by an aniline ligand-assisted electrochemical deposition method can reach 30 nanometers, and the increase of the size is beneficial to the expansion of the electrochemical active surface area, so that the electron transfer efficiency is enhanced, and the electro-catalytic performance is further improved. According to the invention, the gold nanowires are integrated into the platinum-based nanomaterial, so that the catalytic efficiency of methanol oxidation reaction can be remarkably improved for an anode catalyst of a direct methanol fuel cell.

The invention discloses a direct methanol fuel cell control system for an unmanned aerial vehicle, and belongs to the technical field of fuel cell and unmanned aerial vehicle energy management. The system comprises a direct methanol fuel cell stack, a lithium battery pack, a peripheral accessory subsystem, a power management controller and a power mixing and charging management circuit. The power mixing and charging management circuit adopts an ideal diode controller to realize ultralow-loss parallel connection and automatic seamless switching from a fuel cell and a lithium battery to a power bus; the power management controller executes a self-adaptive charging control strategy and dynamically controls charging on-off and current magnitude based on voltage and temperature multi-parameter feedback; and executing a peripheral accessory cooperative control strategy, and accurately adjusting accessory power according to the working condition of the electric pile. The problems of low efficiency, extensive charging management and high accessory energy consumption in the prior art are solved, and the endurance and reliability of the unmanned aerial vehicle and the overall efficiency of the system are remarkably improved.

The invention provides noble metal-free electro-catalyst compositions for use in acidic media, e.g., acidic electrolyte. The noble metal-free electro-catalyst compositions include non-noble metal absent of noble metal. The non-noble metal is non-noble metal oxide, and typically in the form of any configuration of a solid or hollow nano-material, e.g., nano-particles, a nanocrystalline thin film, nanorods, nanoshells, nanoflakes, nanotubes, nanoplates, nanospheres and nanowhiskers or combinations of myriad nanoscale architecture embodiments. Optionally, the noble metal-free electro-catalyst compositions include dopant, such as, but not limited to halogen. Acidic media includes oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells, and direct methanol fuel cells and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in PEM-based water electrolysis and metal air batteries, and hydrogen generation from solar energy and electricity-driven water splitting.

The invention provides noble metal-free electro-catalyst compositions for use in acidic media, e.g., acidic electrolyte. The noble metal-free electro-catalyst compositions include non-noble metal absent of noble metal. The non-noble metal is non-noble metal oxide, and typically in the form of any configuration of a solid or hollow nano-material, e.g., nano-particles, a nanocrystalline thin film, nanorods, nanoshells, nanoflakes, nanotubes, nanoplates, nanospheres and nanowhiskers or combinations of myriad nanoscale architecture embodiments. Optionally, the noble metal-free electro-catalyst compositions include dopant, such as, but not limited to halogen. Acidic media includes oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells, and direct methanol fuel cells and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in PEM-based water electrolysis and metal air batteries, and hydrogen generation from solar energy and electricity-driven water splitting.

The present invention relates to a proton exchange membrane based on PVDF in powder form, said PVDF being irradiated, grafted, and phosphonated; the process for preparing said membrane; and the application of said membrane in fields requiring ion exchange, such as electrochemistry or energy. In particular, this membrane is used in the design of fuel cell membranes, such as proton-conducting membranes for fuel cells operating with H2 / air or H2 / O2 (these cells being known by the abbreviation PEMFC for "Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell") or operating with methanol / air (these cells being known by the abbreviation DMFC for "Direct Methanol Fuel Cell").

This invention discloses a high specific surface area palladium-copper alloy nanocatalyst, its preparation method, and its applications, belonging to the fields of nanosynthesis and fuel cell technology. Using ascorbic acid as a reducing agent, palladium and copper precursors are reduced, and a structure-directing agent is added to prepare palladium-copper alloy nanomaterials with a durian-like structure using a simple one-pot method. Due to the durian-like structure and numerous branches on the surface of the nanomaterial, it provides a higher surface area and abundant reactive sites. The introduction of copper not only effectively reduces the amount of palladium used, lowering costs, but also provides a large number of active hydroxyl radicals, promoting the reaction of the intermediate product CO. ads The material is oxidized to CO2, preventing palladium poisoning. This nanomaterial, as a catalyst, exhibits high activity, high stability, and excellent resistance to poisoning in the alkaline methanol electrocatalytic oxidation reaction. This invention shows promising application prospects in the field of direct methanol fuel cells and has development value.