The present disclosure provides a method for preparing a supported metal alloy catalyst for low temperature engine exhaust oxidation without CO or NO inhibition. The catalyst includes bimetallic PdCu alloy deposited on a SiO.sub.2 support using the strong electrostatic adsorption method. The PdCu catalyst may be combined with a traditional PGM-based automotive oxidation catalyst in a series or dual-bed configuration. The first stage of the dual-bed system includes the PdCu catalyst, with the primary role of oxidizing CO at low temperature; the PGM-based catalyst in the second stage then oxidizes NO and hydrocarbons in the absence of any CO-inhibition effects.

The present invention is directed to a rechargeable electrochemical device including a first electrode assembly and a second electrode assembly spaced-apart from the first electrode assembly, a membrane arranged between the first electrode assembly and the second electrode assembly, a first transport plate arranged on the first electrode assembly and a second transport plate arranged on the second electrode assembly, an electrolyte disposed in the first electrode assembly and the second electrode assembly, and a vapor-phase hydrogen carrier in the first transport plate arranged on the first electrode assembly or in the second transport plate arranged on the second electrode assembly; a method for using a rechargeable electrochemical device; and a method for making a rechargeable electrochemical device.

A composition consisting essentially of a perovskite crystalline structure includes ions of a first metal M1 which occupies an A-site of the perovskite crystalline structure and ions of a second metal M2 which occupies a B-site of the perovskite crystalline structure. M2 has two oxidation states capable of forming a redox couple suitable for reversibly catalyzing an oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and an oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The composition also includes ions of a third metal M3 at least a portion of which substitutes for M1 in the A-site of the perovskite crystalline structure, and at least a portion of which optionally also substitutes for M2 in the B-site of the perovskite crystalline structure. At least some of the ions of M3 have a different oxidation state to the ions of M1. The composition also includes atoms of an element X, which is a chalcogen.

The present disclosure is directed to compositions and structures of supported metal catalysts for use in applications such as direct methanol fuel cells. Generally, implementations include supported metal catalysts that include Pt active sites that have been modified by addition or co-localization of a second metal such as Cu, Co, Ni, and/or other base metals to lower the inhibiting effect of strongly-adsorbed CO, an intermediate of methanol oxidation. An example aspect of the present disclosure includes catalyst compositions where the exterior metal sites in the supported catalyst include at least two metals: Pt and a competitive binder (e.g., a second metal).

A fuel cell catalyst material includes metal catalyst particles formed of a metal material and a carbon-based coating composition at least partially coating at least some of the metal catalyst particles. The carbon-based coating composition includes a carbon network. The carbon-based coating composition is doped with a dopant. The carbon-based coating composition includes a number of defects formed by one or more vacated carbon atoms in the carbon network.

The present invention relates to an electrode comprising an electrically conductive substrate of which at least one portion of the surface is covered with a metal deposit of copper, the surface of said deposit being in an oxidised, sulphurised, selenised and/or tellurised form and the deposit having a specific surface area of more than 1 m.sup.2/g; a method for preparing such an electrode; and a method for oxygenising water with dioxygen involving such an electrode.

A method of producing electrical power includes: a cathode having a porphyrin precursor attached to a substrate, and having a first enzyme, wherein the first enzyme reduces oxygen; an anode having a first region of an anode substrate and having a gold nanoparticle composition located thereon, and having a second region of the anode substrate having an enzyme composition located thereon, wherein the enzyme composition includes a second enzyme, wherein the first region and second region are separate regions; and a neutral fuel liquid in contact with the anode and cathode, the neutral fuel liquid having a neutral pH and a fuel reagent; and operating the fuel cell to produce electrical power with the neutral fuel liquid having the neutral pH and the fuel reagent.

An innovative fuel cell system with membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) includes a polymer electrolyte membrane, a gas diffusion layer (GDL) made of porous metal foam, and a catalyst layer. A fuel cell has a metal foam layer that improves efficiency and lifetime of the conventional gas diffusion layer, which consists of both gas diffusion barrier (GDB) and microporous layer (MPL). This metal foam GDL enables consistent maintenance of the suitable structure and even distribution of pores during the operation. Due to the combination of mechanical and physical properties of metallic foam, the fuel cell is not deformed by external physical strain. Among many other processing methods of open-cell metal foams, ice-templating provides a cheap, easy processing route suitable for mass production. Furthermore, it provides well-aligned and long channel pores, which improve gas and water flow during the operation of the fuel cell.

The present invention relates to a flexible electrode, a biofuel cell using the same, and a method for manufacturing the same. The electrode according to the present invention comprises: a non-electrically conductive substrate (10); a base layer (20) disposed on the outer surface of the substrate (10); a nanoparticle layer (31) including metallic nanoparticles and disposed on the outer surface of the base layer (20); and a monomolecular layer (33) including a monomolecular material having an amine group and disposed on the outer surface of the nanoparticle layer (31).

A method for preparing a transition metal electrochemical catalyst according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes dissolving a nitrogen precursor and a transition metal precursor in a polyol-based solvent so as to prepare a solution in which transition metal ions and free anions are coordinated, and mixing same with a support so as to prepare a mixture, igniting the mixture so as to carbonize the polyol-based solvent, thereby forming transition metal nanoparticles encompassed by carbon, performing heat treatment in order to carbonize remaining organic matter contained in the mixture, and removing, through acid treatment, impurities and transition metal nanoparticles not encompassed by carbon, and then removing remaining acid through washing and additional heat treatment, thereby a nanocatalyst having a structure in which a single-atom transition metal-nitrogen bonding structure and/or transition metal nanoparticles encompassed by carbon exist is synthesized.