No.11（2016）13.Nitrogen-doped hollow carbon nanoparticles as oxygen reduction electrocatalysts for fuel cells

Naoki Tachibana，Saori Ikeda，Yasuyuki Yukawa，Masahiro Kawaguchi

  Fuel cells and metal-air batteries have attracted the attention of many researchers because of their superior power storage capacity. Rare metal nanoparticles supported on carbon black have long been regarded as excellent catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) at air electrodes in the fuel cells and metal–air batteries. However, rare metals are expensive materials and limited resources. In this study, nitrogen-doped carbon was prepared by pyrolyzing a mixture of the commercial carbon black and cyanamide used as a nitrogen source. The synthesized nitrogen-doped carbon catalyst with a large surface area consists of macro-, meso- and microporous structures, which can be made to achieve gas supplying and maximize the power density. Gas diffusion electrode (GDE) using the nitrogen-doped carbon catalyst shows significantly improved ORR activity. The current density for the GDE using the nitrogen-doped carbon catalyst at -65 mV obtained from a steady-state polarization curve was ~100-fold higher than that using non-treated carbon.

Keywords
Nitrogen-doped carbon, Fuel cell, Metal-air battery, Oxygen reduction catalyst, Metal free

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