Professor Jaeyoung Lee's research team improves the commercialization of high-carbon catalysts for electric cars

□ Professor Jaeyoung Lee of the School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Engineering at the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST, President Seung Hyeon Moon) has synthesized highly active, metal-free N-doped carbon (NDC) by controlling the pore size distribution, and for the first time, investigated the effect of the pore size distribution on the anode performance in a DHFC.

∘ This achievement is expected to contribute to commercialization by lowering the high production cost of fuel cell as a result of clarifying the catalyst structure that can improve availability and performance of non-metal catalyst as a hydrazine fuel cell catalyst.

* Hydrazine (N2H4): A chemical compound of nitrogen and hydrogen that has a high energy density (5416 Wh/kg) and, therefore, is of great engineering value.

□ Recently, liquid fuel cells, such as organic fuel cells, have attracted great research interest, but the low output density and high production cost due to an excessive amount of precious metal catalyst is the biggest problem to commercialization. In order to overcome such problems, research on the use of nitrogen-based hydrazine, which is a liquid chemical substance, as a fuel for fuel cells is receiving great attention.

∘ Japanese automobile company Daihatsu (Toyota Group) has been paying a great deal of attention on the potential of hydrazine fuel cells, which they have been investing and researching in since 2007. At the Tokyo Motor Show in 2011, they demonstrated a hydrazine fuel cell electric car.

□ The research team used the electrospinning method, which can be mass-produced at low cost by synthesizing the catalyst, and increased the reactivity to hydrazine oxidation by selectively forming micropores on the surface of carbon nanofibers.

∘ In particular, the hydrazine reactivity varies depending on the size of the micropores. Through experiments, it was shown that a mesoporous structure with a size of 10 nm or more can be effectively used in the hydrazine fuel cell, thereby providing new approaches for the metal catalyst in hydrazine fuel cells.

□ Professor Jaeyoung Lee said, "We are expecting to contribute to the commercialization of hydrazine fuel cells by developing a bark-like, low-cost, high-efficiency hydrazine oxidation catalyst capable of mass production."

▲ Bamboo-shaped metal-based carbon catalyst photographed with a (left) transmission electron microscope

□ The research entitled "Tree-Bark-Shaped N-Doped Porous Carbon Anode for Hydrazine Fuel Cells" was authored by Jaehoon Jeong, Myounghoon Choun, and Jaeyoung Lee and was published on August 29, 2017, Angewandte Chemie. The research was supported by the New & Renewable Energy Core  Technology  Program  of  the  Korea  Institute  of  Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) from the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy, and by  the GIST Research Institute (GRI).