Researchers develop non-precious metal catalyst that can replace platinum

A domestic research team has developed a material that is 1/1000 the price of catalysts used in fuel cells for hydrogen vehicles.

KAIST announced on Tuesday that Professor Cho Eun-ae's research team from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering developed a non-precious metal catalyst that can replace platinum in collaboration with Professor Han Jeong-woo's research team from the Department of Chemical Engineering at POSTECH.

"Cation exchange membrane fuel cells" used in hydrogen cell vehicles require a large amount of platinum catalyst on the electrodes to increase the electrochemical reaction rate. The research team developed a ‘single atom iron, nitrogen, carbon, phosphorus material’ to replace platinum. This material has a structure in which a very small amount of iron elements is dispersed atomically in carbon, and nitrogen and phosphorus are bonded to the surroundings. According to the research team, this material can be used as a catalyst for next-generation "anion exchange membrane fuel cells."

The research results were published on July 3 in the online edition of "ACS Catalysis," an international academic journal related to catalysts in the United States. “Fuel cells are complex reaction devices, so even if a new catalyst is developed, it is often difficult to apply it in practice," Professor Cho said. "The developed material is special because it can be applied not only to existing cation exchange membranes but also to next-generation anion exchange membranes.”


warum@donga.com