(A) study on proton exchange membrane fuel cells using block copolymer-based mesoporous carbon particles

Abstract

As the demand for eco-friendly energy surges, research on proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) has been actively studied. Since the reaction of the PEMFCs requires much platinum as catalysts, however, not only the high price of platinum but also the low stability still has a problem for commercialization of PEMFCs. Therefore, designing an electrode capable of exhibiting high activity and stability is essential for the commercialization of the PEMFCs. Furthermore, the material design showing high activity and stability while reducing the amount of platinum is essential in securing the high economic efficiency of fuel cells. However, although much research had been conducted to develop a material showing high catalytic activity and stability, studies to secure a material showing high characteristics in a low platinum system are still relatively insufficient. Porous carbon particles are attracting much attention for various applications owing to their high surface area, pore volume, and high conductivity. In particular, it has been used as an effective supporting material for PEMFCs in that various metal nanoparticles can be deposited on the carbon surface. For this reason, research on improving fuel cell performance through the development of porous carbon particles with various methods have emerged, but there are still problems to be solved due to low yield and long steps in manufacturing porous carbon particles. Therefore, it is essential to develop porous carbon particles with mass-production and high yield, and also stably support a platinum-based catalyst. In this thesis, we propose a new method of producing porous carbon particles through the carbonization of cross-linkable block copolymer particles and a method for stably supporting a platinum-based catalyst. In particular, examining the fuel cell performance behavior was discussed according to the pore size and shape of the carbonized block copolymer particles. It is expected that this study can present an important clue in the design of supporting particles of fuel cells.