Processing of Raney-Nickel Catalysts for Alkaline Fuel Cell Applications

Linnekoski, Juha; Krause, A.O.I.; Keskinen, Jari; Lamminen, J.; Anttila, T.

doi:10.1115/1.2397140

Cited by 11 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 16 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…One can distinguish several groups of catalytic materials having metallic nickel as the main component. Among them, there are metal-doped-sponge Raney nickel catalysts, − electrochemically deposited bulk double- and ternary-metal catalysts, highly dispersed supported Ni-based catalysts, and single-crystal Ni facets . The first group, Raney nickel catalysts, is the most popular, with the highest number of studies, because of its popularity in liquid electrolyte (KOH)-based alkaline fuel cells.…”

Section: Hor Electrocatalystsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electrocatalysts for Hydrogen Oxidation Reaction in Alkaline Electrolytes

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In the past 5 years, advances in anionconductive membranes have opened the door for the development of advanced anion-exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs) as the next generation of affordable fuel cells. Several recent works have shown that AEMFCs currently achieve nearly identical beginning-of-life performance as stateof-the-art proton exchange membrane fuel cells. However, until now, these high AEMFC performances have been reached with platinum-group metal (PGM)-based anode and cathode catalysts. In order to fulfill the potential of AEMFCs, such catalysts should in the near future be free of PGMs and, eventually, free of critical raw materials. Although great progress has been achieved in the development of PGM-free catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction in basic media, significantly less attention has been paid to the catalysis of the hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR). The much lower HOR activity of Pt in basic media compared with that in acid was itself revealed only relatively recently. While several PGM-based composite materials have shown improved HOR activity in basic media, the HOR kinetics remains slower than necessary for an ideal nonpolarizable electrode. In addition, attempts to move away from PGMs have hitherto resulted in high anode overpotentials, significantly reducing the performance of PGM-free AEMFCs. This would be a major barrier for the large-scale deployment of this technology once the other technological hurdles (e.g., membrane stability) have been overcome. A fundamental understanding of the HOR mechanism in basic media and of the main energy barriers needs to be firmly established to overcome this challenge. This review presents the current understanding of the HOR electrocatalysis in basic media and critically discusses the most recent material approaches. Promising future research directions in the development of the HOR electrocatalysts for alkaline electrolytes are also outlined.

show abstract

Section: Hor Electrocatalystsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electrocatalysts for Hydrogen Oxidation Reaction in Alkaline Electrolytes

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…in the region of approximately 80%) and have a thermodynamic fuel cell voltage of 1.23V at 25°C [40]. Although low temperature (25 to 75°C) AFC's have preferentially used platinum and platinum group metals either separately or in combination, the use of Raney-nickel catalyst has been subject to increasing interest due to it being one of the most active nonnoble metal catalysts for the hydrogen oxidation reaction [41,42].…”

Section: Alkaline Fuel Cell Electrodementioning

confidence: 99%

Life cycle assessment of gas atomised sponge nickel for use in alkaline hydrogen fuel cell applications

Wilson

Lavery

Jarvis

et al. 2013

Journal of Power Sources

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

N. (2013). Life cycle assessment of gas atomised sponge nickel for use in alkaline hydrogen fuel cell applications. Journal of Power Sources, 243, 242-252.http://dx.This paper presents a cradle-to-grave comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of new gas atomized (GA) sponge nickel catalysts and evaluates their performance against the both cast and crush (CC) sponge nickel and platinum standards currently used in commercial alkaline fuel cells (AFC). The LCA takes into account the energy used and emissions throughout the entire life cycle of sponge nickel catalysts -ranging from the upstream production of materials (mainly aluminium and nickel), to the manufacturing, to the operation and finally to the recycling and disposal. Through this assessment it was found that the energy and emissions during the operational phase associated with a given catalyst considerably outweigh the primary production, manufacturing and recycling. Primary production of the nickel (and to a lesser extent dopant materials) also has a significant environmental impact but this is offset by operational energy savings over the electrode's estimated lifetime and end of life recyclability. From the results it can be concluded that higher activity spongy nickel catalysts produced by gas atomization could have a significantly lower environmental impact than either CC nickel or platinum. Doped GA sponge nickel in particular showed comparable performance to that of the standard platinum electrode used in AFCs.

show abstract

“…The Kiros group [103] showed that doping Raney nickel with Cr, La, Ti, Cu, and Fe could have positive effects on the activity and stability of the catalysts. Linnekoski et al [97] reported that mechanically alloying Raney nickel and carbon using a ball mill with the addition of 2 wt% Pt remarkably improved the performance of the fuel cell.…”

Section: Raney Nickelmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Although Raney nickel has excellent hydrogen adsorption ability and relatively large surface area, some disadvantages have also been reported, such as high electrolyte diffusion resistance due to low pore volume and small pore size [98,99], and insufficient conductivity [97]. One type of mitigation is to support Raney nickel on carbon blacks, which will decrease its electrolyte diffusion resistance and increase its electrical conductivity [97].…”

Section: Raney Nickelmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…The Raney nickel catalyst can usually be stabilized by 2 to 4 wt% titanium and additionally activated by a small percentage of molybdenum [95] or platinum [97]. Although Raney nickel has excellent hydrogen adsorption ability and relatively large surface area, some disadvantages have also been reported, such as high electrolyte diffusion resistance due to low pore volume and small pore size [98,99], and insufficient conductivity [97].…”

Section: Raney Nickelmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Electrocatalytic H2 Oxidation Reaction

Li¹,

Lee²,

Zhang³

PEM Fuel Cell Electrocatalysts and Catalyst Layers

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Hydrogen (H 2 ), an important material and product in chemical industries, has been investigated as a new clean energy source for many decades [1][2][3]. With the rapid development of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell technology, in which H 2 is used as a fuel, the chemical energy stored in this H 2 can be electrochemically converted to electric energy with zero emissions and high efficiency. The dream of a hydrogen economy era therefore seems closer to reality. Beginning in the 1990s, the advantages of PEM fuel cells, including zero/low emissions, high energy efficiency, and high power density, have attracted world-wide research and development in several important application areas, including automotive engines, stationary power generation stations, and portable power devices [4]. With successful demonstrations of fuel cell technology, in particular in automotive applications, commercialization of this technology has become a strong driving force for further development in the critical areas of cost reduction and durability. The major cost of a PEM fuel cell is the platinum (Pt)-based catalysts. At our current technological stage, these Pt-based catalysts for both the cathodic O 2 reduction reaction (ORR) and the anodic H 2 oxidation reaction (HOR) are the most practical catalysts in terms of catalytic activity and lifetime stability. Therefore, research and development to improve catalytic activity and stability has shot to the fore in recent years. Although both theoretical and experimental approaches have resulted in great progress in fuel cell catalysis [2,3,5,6], continuous effort is necessary to develop breakthrough fuel cell catalysts that are cost-effective and highly durable for commercial use.With respect to fuel cell catalysis, most research has been focused on cathode ORR catalysts development, because the ORR kinetics are much slower than the anodic HOR kinetics; in other words, the fuel cell voltage drop polarized by load is due mainly to the cathode ORR overpotential [7,8]. However, in some cases the overpotential of the anodic HOR can also contribute a non-negligible portion of the overall fuel cell voltage drop [8]. Therefore, the catalytic HOR on the fuel cell anode catalyst is also worth examining.

show abstract

Processing of Raney-Nickel Catalysts for Alkaline Fuel Cell Applications

Cited by 11 publications

References 16 publications

Electrocatalysts for Hydrogen Oxidation Reaction in Alkaline Electrolytes

Electrocatalysts for Hydrogen Oxidation Reaction in Alkaline Electrolytes

Life cycle assessment of gas atomised sponge nickel for use in alkaline hydrogen fuel cell applications

Electrocatalytic H2 Oxidation Reaction

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About