A method for preparing a support for an electrode catalyst including forming first and second polymer layers having charges different from each other on a surface of a carbon support and carbonizing the result, wherein the polymers included in the first and the second polymer layers are an aromatic compound including a heteroatom, and the first or the second polymer includes a pyridine group.

The present disclosure relates to antioxidant for a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell electrode catalyst, which includes cerium hydrogen phosphate (HCe.sub.2(PO.sub.4).sub.3(H.sub.2O)) in the form of a nanofiber, and an electrode and a membrane-electrode assembly including the same. The electrode for a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell of the present disclosure, wherein the antioxidant is dispersed, can improve the mechanical strength of an electrode catalyst layer and can minimize deterioration of chemical durability even after long-term operation. And, a fuel cell including the same can exhibit high output performance and can operate stably even after long-term operation.

Provided are an electrode catalyst layer for a polymer electrolyte fuel cell, which is capable of improving drainage property and gas diffusion properties and capable of high output, and a polymer electrolyte fuel cell provided with the same. An electrode catalyst layer (2, 3) bonded to a polymer electrolyte membrane (1) includes a catalyst (13), carbon particles (14), a polymer electrolyte (15) and fibrous material (16), in which the electrode catalyst layer (2,3) has a density falling within a range of 500 mg/cm.sup.3 to 900 mg/cm.sup.3, or has a density falling within a range of 400 mg/cm.sup.3 to 1000 mg/cm.sup.3, and the mass of the polymer electrolyte (15) falls within a range of 10 mass % to 200 mass % with respect to the total mass of the carbon particles (14) and the fibrous material (16).

Provided is an electrochemical oxygen reduction catalyst comprising platinum-containing nanoparticles and at least one member selected from the group consisting of a specific polymer containing a melamine compound as a monomer and a specific melamine compound, the electrochemical oxygen reduction catalyst having not only high oxygen reduction activity (low overvoltage), but also high durability at 70 to 85° C., which are practical temperature conditions.

Disclosed are a carbon-based carrier that is capable of increasing catalyst activity as much as that of a porous type while having excellent durability unique to that of a solid type, a catalyst comprising same, a membrane-electrode assembly comprising same, and a method for preparing same. The carbon-based carrier for a fuel cell catalyst of the present invention is a solid-type carrier, and has an outer surface area of 100-450 m.sup.2/g, a mesopore volume of 0.25-0.65 cm.sup.3/g, and a micropore volume of 0.01-0.05 cm.sup.3/g.

A nanowire catalyst for a fuel cell has a porous structure in which first and second pores having predetermined pore sizes are uniformly dispersed inside and on the surface thereof at a predetermined volume ratio. This enables the efficient exposure of active sites and efficient mass transfer, thereby improving fuel cell performance.

Hybrid catalyst suitable for use in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell and method of preparing same. In one embodiment, the hybrid catalyst is iron-free and includes an Mn—N—C support and platinum-containing nanoparticles that are dispersed on the Mn—N—C support. The Mn—N—C support preferably comprises atomically dispersed and nitrogen coordinated MnN.sub.4 moieties and has a particle size of about 30 to 200 nm. The platinum-containing nanoparticles preferably have a particle size ranging from about 2 to 8 nm and are made of platinum or a platinum-cobalt intermetallic alloy, such as a cubic L1.sub.2 Pt.sub.3Co alloy or a tetragonal L1.sub.0 PtCo alloy. The hybrid catalyst may be made by combining a quantity of a hexachloroplatinic acid solution with a quantity of an Mn—N—C support, sonicating the mixture in an ice bath, freeze-drying the sonicated product, calcinating the freeze-dried product under a forming gas, and heating the calcinated product.

Disclosed are a membrane-electrode assembly capable of satisfying both of two requirements of excellent performance and high durability, and a fuel cell including same. The membrane-electrode assembly of the present invention comprises: a first electrode; a second electrode; and an electrolyte membrane between the first and second electrodes, wherein the first electrode includes a first segment having a first durability and a second segment having a second durability that differs from the first durability.

The present invention discloses a low-platinum catalyst based on nitride nanoparticles and a preparation method thereof. A component of an active metal of the catalyst directly clades on a surface of nitride particles or a surface of nitride particles loaded on a carbon support in an ultrathin atomic layer form. Preparation steps including: preparing a transition-metal ammonia complex first, nitriding the obtained ammonia complex solid under an atmosphere of ammonia gas to obtain nitride nanoparticles; loading the nitride nanoparticles on a surface of a working electrode, depositing an active component on a surface of the nitride nanoparticles by pulsed deposition, to obtain the low platinum loading catalyst using a nitride as a substrate. The catalyst may be used as an anode or a cathode catalyst of a low temperature fuel cell, has very high catalytic activity and stability, can greatly reduce a usage amount of a precious metal in the fuel cell, and greatly reduces a cost of the fuel cell. The present invention has important characteristics of being controllable in deposition amount, simple and convenient to operate, free of protection of inert atmosphere, and etc., and is suitable for large-scale industrial production.

Disclosed is a membrane-electrode assembly which can prevent the corrosion of a carbon-based carrier caused by reducing and/or stopping the supply of hydrogen gas, as well as platinum loss caused by such corrosion, without degrading the performance of a fuel cell, and thus can improve the reverse voltage durability of the fuel cell. Also disclosed are a method for manufacturing the membrane-electrode assembly, and a fuel cell including the membrane-electrode assembly. The membrane-electrode assembly according to the present invention includes: an electrolyte membrane having a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface; an anode on the first surface; an OER catalyst layer on the first surface; and a cathode on the second surface, wherein the OER catalyst layer includes a catalyst for an oxygen-generating reaction, and at least a portion of the OER catalyst layer is disposed on the same layer as the anode.