title: High Performance and Cost-Effective Direct Methanol Fuel Cells: Fe-N-C Methanol-Tolerant Oxygen Reduction Reaction Catalysts.
abstract: Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) offer great advantages for the supply of power with high efficiency and large energy density. The search for a cost-effective, active, stable and methanol-tolerant catalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is still a great challenge. In this work, platinum group metal-free (PGM-free) catalysts based on Fe-N-C are investigated in acidic medium. Post-treatment of the catalyst improves the ORR activity compared with previously published PGM-free formulations and shows an excellent tolerance to the presence of methanol. The feasibility for application in DMFC under a wide range of operating conditions is demonstrated, with a maximum power density of approximately 50 mW cm(-2) and a negligible methanol crossover effect on the performance. A review of the most recent PGM-free cathode formulations for DMFC indicates that this formulation leads to the highest performance at a low membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) cost. Moreover, a 100 h durability test in DMFC shows suitable applicability, with a similar performance-time behavior compared to common MEAs based on Pt cathodes.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Tecnologie Avanzate per l'Energia "Nicola Giordano" (ITAE), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Via Salita S. Lucia sopra Contesse 5, 98126, Messina, Italy.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sebastián
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Center for Micro-Engineered Materials, Farris Engineering Center, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131, USA.
authors.forename: Alexey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Serov
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Center for Micro-Engineered Materials, Farris Engineering Center, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131, USA.
authors.forename: Kateryna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Artyushkova
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Center for Micro-Engineered Materials, Farris Engineering Center, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131, USA.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gordon
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Center for Micro-Engineered Materials, Farris Engineering Center, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131, USA. plamen@unm.edu.
authors.forename: Plamen
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Atanassov
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Tecnologie Avanzate per l'Energia "Nicola Giordano" (ITAE), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Via Salita S. Lucia sopra Contesse 5, 98126, Messina, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonino S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Aricò
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Tecnologie Avanzate per l'Energia "Nicola Giordano" (ITAE), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Via Salita S. Lucia sopra Contesse 5, 98126, Messina, Italy. baglio@itae.cnr.it.
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-0541-7169
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Baglio
mesh_terms: D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D002384:Catalysis; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D011211:Electric Power Supplies / Q000191:economics*; D004566:Electrodes; D007501:Iron / Q000737:chemistry*; D000432:Methanol / Q000737:chemistry*; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000737:chemistry*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010100:Oxygen / Q000737:chemistry*; D010984:Platinum / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D010984:Platinum; D002244:Carbon; D007501:Iron; D009584:Nitrogen; D010100:Oxygen; D000432:Methanol
keywords: direct methanol fuel cell; electrocatalyst; methanol tolerance; oxygen reduction reaction; post-treatment