Compositions comprised of a tin film, coated by a shell of less than 50 nm thick made of palladium and tin in a molar ratio ranging from 1:4 to 3:1, respectively, are disclosed. Uses of the compositions as an electro-catalyst e.g., in a fuel cell, and particularly for the oxidation of various materials are also disclosed.

Materials and methods for coating an electrochemically active electrode material for use in a lithium-ion battery are provided. In one example, an electrochemically active electrode material comprises: a polymer coating applied directly to an exterior surface of the electrochemically active electrode material; a metal plating catalyst adhered to the continuous polymer; and a continuous metal coating that completely covers the metal catalyst and continuous polymer coating. The electrochemically active electrode material may comprise a powder comprising one or more secondary particles, and the polymer and metal coatings may be applied to exterior surfaces of these secondary particles.

A catalyst carrier, an electrode catalyst, an electrode including the catalyst, a membrane electrode assembly including the electrode, and a fuel cell including the membrane electrode assembly. The catalyst carrier includes a carbon material having a chain structure including a chain of carbon particles and an alumina-carbon composite particle in which a carbon particle encloses an alumina particle, the alumina-carbon composite particle is contained in the carbon material, and the catalyst carrier has a BET specific surface area of 450 to 1100 m.sup.2/g.

A method for producing a catalyst supporting a metal or an alloy on a support, including: independently controlling a temperature of a first supercritical fluid to be first temperature, the first supercritical fluid containing a precursor of the metal or precursor of the alloy that is dissolved in a supercritical fluid; independently controlling a temperature of the support to be a second temperature higher than the temperature of the first supercritical fluid; and supplying the first supercritical fluid controlled to the first temperature to the support, to cause the metal or the alloy to be supported on the support.

A catalyst carrier, an electrode catalyst, an electrode including the catalyst, a membrane electrode assembly including the electrode, a fuel cell including the membrane electrode assembly, and a method for producing the catalyst carrier. The catalyst carrier includes a carbon material having a chain structure including a chain of carbon particles. The catalyst carrier contains a titanium compound-carbon composite particle in which carbon encloses a titanium compound particle. The molar ratios of a carbon element, a nitrogen element, and an oxygen element to a titanium element taken as 1 in the catalyst carrier are more than 0 and 50 or less, more than 0 and 2 or less, and more than 0 and 3 or less, respectively.

Embodiments of the present disclosure pertain to electrocatalysts that include a surface and a plurality of catalytically active sites associated with the surface. The catalytically active sites include individually dispersed metallic atoms that are associated with heteroatoms. In some embodiments, the surface includes graphene oxide, the heteroatoms include nitrogen, and the metallic atoms include cobalt. Additional embodiments of the present disclosure pertain to methods of mediating an electrocatalytic reaction by exposing a precursor material to an electrocatalyst of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the electrocatalytic reaction is a hydrogen evolution reaction that results in the formation of molecular hydrogen from the precursor material. Further embodiments of the present disclosure pertain to methods of making the electrocatalysts of the present disclosure by associating a surface with heteroatoms and metallic atoms.

The present specification relates to a carrier-nanoparticle complex, a catalyst including the same, an electrochemical cell or a fuel cell including the catalyst, and a method for preparing the same.

The present disclosure relates to methods for depositing vertically oriented carbon nanowalls (CNWs) using non-equilibrium gases such as gaseous plasma. Methods are disclosed for rapid deposition of uniformly distributed nanowalls on large surfaces of substrates using ablation of bulk carbon materials by reactive gaseous species, formation of oxidized carbon-containing gaseous molecules, ionization of said molecules and interacting said molecules, neutral or positively charged, with a substrate. The CNWs prepared are useful in different applications such as fuel cells, lithium ion batteries, photovoltaic devices and sensors of specific gaseous molecules.

The invention pertains to the field of catalysts. Disclosed is a method for preparing an oxygen reduction catalyst employing graphite of a negative electrode of a waste battery. The method comprises the following steps: (1) recovering graphite slag from a waste battery, then performing heat treatment on the graphite slag; (2) performing ball-milling and mixing on the treated graphite slag, an iron salt, and a nitrogenous organic compound to acquire a catalyst precursor; (3) performing carbonization treatment on the catalyst precursor in an inert gas atmosphere to acquire a carbon-based mixture comprising iron and nitrogen; and (4) dissolving the carbon-based mixture comprising iron and nitrogen in an acid solution, performing filtration and drying, performing carbonization treatment again in an inert gas atmosphere, so as to acquire an oxygen reduction catalyst employing graphite of a negative electrode of a waste battery. The invention uses graphite slag generated in a recovery process of a waste lithium ion battery as a raw material. The graphite slag is widely available, and has low costs. The invention reduces environmental pollution, and has economic benefits.

A catalyst carrier, an electrode catalyst, an electrode including the catalyst, a membrane electrode assembly including the electrode, and a fuel cell including the membrane electrode assembly. The catalyst carrier includes a carbon material having a chain structure including a chain of carbon particles, and an oxide-carbon composite particle in which a carbon particle encloses a particle of an oxide of a group IV element on the periodic table, the oxide-carbon composite particle being contained in the carbon material. The catalyst carrier has a BET specific surface area of 450 to 1100 m.sup.2/g.