Investigation of thermal and electrochemical degradation of fuel cell catalysts

A significant problem hindering large-scale implementation of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell technology is the loss of performance during extended operation and automotive cycling. Recent investigations of the deterioration of cell performance have revealed that a considerable part of the performance loss is due to the degradation of the electrocatalyst. In this study, an attempt is made to experimentally simulate the degradation processes such as carbon corrosion and platinum (Pt) surface area loss using an accelerated thermal sintering protocol. Two types of Tanaka fuel cell catalyst samples were heat-treated at 250 °C in humidified helium (He) gas streams and several oxygen (O₂) concentrations. The catalysts were then cycled electrochemically in pellet electrodes to determine the hydrogen adsorption (HAD) area and its evolution in subsequent electrochemical cycling. Samples that had undergone different degrees of carbon corrosion and Pt sintering were characterized for changes in carbon mass, active Pt surface area, BET (Brunauer, Emmett and Teller) surface area, and Pt crystallite size. Studies of the effect of oxygen and water concentration on two Tanaka catalysts, dispersed on carbon supports with varying BET areas, revealed that carbon oxidation in the presence of Pt follows two pathways: an oxygen pathway that leads to mass loss due to formation of gaseous products, and a water pathway that results in mass gains, especially for high BET area supports. These processes may be assisted by the formation of highly reactive OH and OOH type radicals. Platinum surface area loss, measured at varying oxygen concentrations and as a function of sintering time using X-ray diffraction (XRD), CO chemisorption, and electrochemical hydrogen adsorption, reveal an important role for carbon corrosion rather than an increase in Pt particle size for the surface area loss. Platinum surface area loss during 10 h of thermal degradation was equivalent to electrochemical degradation observed over 500 cycles for a Tanaka Pt/Vulcan electrode cycled between 0 and 1.2 V (normal hydrogen electrode-NHE). Carbon mass loss observed for 5 h of thermal degradation was comparable to that obtained during a potential hold for 86 h at 1.2 V (NHE) and 95 °C for the same catalysts.     

Pressure effects on the phonon modes in beryllium chalcogenides

We report first-principles calculations of the structural, lattice-dynamical and dielectric properties for zinc-blend beryllium chalcogenides: BeS, BeSe, and BeTe. The ground state properties, such as the lattice structure and bulk modulus, are calculated using a plane wave pseudopotential method within the density functional theory. A linear response approach is employed in order to derive the high-frequency dielectric constants, Born effective charges and phonon frequencies. Furthermore, the pressure dependence of phonon modes is also detailed.     

Hot compression and fracture toughness of HSS composed hot strip work rolls

The rolls in the finishing stands must have good resistance to both wear and fire cracks. The use of high-speed steel at the finishing stands has shown satisfactory results. The composition of this high-alloyed steel is an important parameter as the most significant change lays on the type, morphology, and volume fraction of the eutectics carbides. The heat treatment of these products consists of high temperature austenization followed by quenching and two temperings, as required in order to increase their overall hardness and to completely eliminate residual austenite. The influence of tempering temperatures on the mechanical properties of these products, determined using tensile, hot compression and fracture toughness tests, was studied in this research work. Their corresponding failure micromechanisms were defined by means of the analysis of fracture surfaces.     

A new technique for solving the multi-objective optimization problem using hybrid approach

Energy efficiency, which consists of using less energy or improving the level of service to energy consumers, refers to an effective way to provide overall energy. But its increasing pressure on the energy sector to control greenhouse gases and to reduce CO₂ emissions forced the power system operators to consider the emission problem as a consequential matter besides the economic problems. The economic power dispatch problem has, therefore, become a multi-objective optimization problem. Fuel cost, pollutant emissions, and system loss should be minimized simultaneously while satisfying certain system constraints. To achieve a good design with different solutions in a multi-objective optimization problem, fuel cost and pollutant emissions are converted into single optimization problem by introducing penalty factor. Now the power dispatch is formulated into a bi-objective optimization problem, two objectives with two algorithms, firefly algorithm for optimization the fuel cost, pollutant emissions and the real genetic algorithm for minimization of the transmission losses. In this paper the new approach (firefly algorithm-real genetic algorithm, FFA-RGA) has been applied to the standard IEEE 30-bus 6-generator. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated by comparing its performance with other evolutionary multi-objective optimization algorithms. Simulation results show the validity and feasibility of the proposed method.     

Tungsten carbide modified high surface area carbon as fuel cell catalyst support

Phase pure WC nanoparticles were synthesized on high surface area carbon black (800 m² g⁻¹) by a temperature programmed reaction (TPR) method. The particle size of WC can be controlled under 30 nm with a relatively high coverage on the carbon surface. The electrochemical testing results demonstrated that the corrosion resistance of carbon black was improved by 2-fold with a surface modification by phase pure WC particles. However, the WC itself showed some dissolution under potential cycling. Based on the X-ray diffraction (XRD) and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) analysis, most of the WC on the surface was lost or transformed to oxides after 5000 potential cycles in the potential range of 0.65-1.2 V. The Pt catalyst supported on WC/C showed a slightly better ORR activity than that of Pt/C, with the Pt activity loss rate for Pt/WC/C being slightly slower compared to that of Pt/C. The performance and decay rate of Pt/WC/C were also evaluated in a fuel cell.