Steam activation of Fe-N-C catalyst for advanced power performance of alkaline hydrazine fuel cells

Alkaline hydrazine liquid fuel cells(AHFC) have been highlighted in terms of high power performance with non-precious metal catalysts.Although Fe-N-C is a promising non-Pt electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction(ORR),the surface density of the active site is very low and the catalyst layer should be thick to acquire the necessary number of catalytic active sites.With this thick catalyst layer,it is important to have an optimum pore structure for effective reactant conveyance to active sites and an interface structure for faster charge transfer.Herein,we prepare a Fe-N-C catalyst with magnetite particles and hierarchical pore structure by steam activation.The steam activation process significantly improves the power performance of the AHFC as indicated by the lower IR and activation voltage losses.Based on a systematic characterization,we found that hierarchical pore structures improve the catalyst utilization efficiency of the AHFCs,and magnetite nanoparticles act as surface modifiers to reduce the interracial resistance between the electrode and the ion-exchange membrane.

Use of Hydrazine and Its Substitutes as Fuel

Due to the properties and high reactivity of hydrazine,it is mainly used as rocket fuel not only in its pure form but also in combination with 1,1-dimethylhydrazine and oxidizers(nitrogen tetroxide or nitric acid)forming a self-igniting mixture with oxidizers.Aerozine 50 and UH 25(a mixture of 75%UDMH(unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine)and 25%hydrazine hydrate)are the best-known hydrazine mixtures with different hydrazine concentrations.The review addresses the use of hydrazine and its derivatives as fuel.Hydrazine is employed in fuel cells(with air oxygen as an oxidizer)to generate electrochemical energy for transport vehicles.Hydrazine is widely used as monopropellant to design low-thrust rocket engines for orientation and stabilization systems in space vehicles,as well as in energy units.The review also addresses such hydrazine derivatives as methylhydrazine,1,1-dimethylhydrazine,hydrazine monoperchlorate,hydrazine diperchlorate,hydrazine diammonium tetraperchlorate,hydrazine mononitrate,hydrazine dinitrate,hydrazine nitroformate,hydrazine azides,tetrafluorohydrazine,etc.as well as composite propellants,and gel rocket propellants based on hydrazine.The materials in the review can be used as reference information on hydrazine fuels.

Cobalt‐regulation‐induced dual active sites in Ni_(2)P for hydrazine electrooxidation

Better understanding of electrochemical reaction behaviors of hydrazine electrooxidation at metal phosphides has long been desired and the optimization of reaction kinetics has been proved to be operable.Herein,the dehydrogenation kinetics of hydrazine electrooxidation at Ni_(2)P is adjusted by Co as the(Ni_(0.6)Co_(0.4))_(2)P catalyzes HzOR effectively with onset potential of–45 mV and only 113 mV is needed to drive the current density of 50 mA cm^(‒2),showing over 60 mV lower than Ni_(2)P and Co_(2)P.It also delivers the maximum power density of 263.0 mW cm^(-2) for direct hydrazine fuel cell.Detailed experimental results revealed that Co doping not only decreases the adsorption energy of N_(2)H_(4) on Ni sites,lowering the energy barrier for dehydrogenation,but also acts as the active sites in the optimal reaction coordination to boost the reaction kinetics.This work represents a breakthrough in improving the catalytic performance of non‐precious metal electrocatalysts for hydrazine electrooxidation and highlights an energy‐saving electrochemical hydrogen production method.

Elucidating the electro-catalytic oxidation of hydrazine over carbon nanotube-based transition metal single atom catalysts

Elucidating the reaction mechanism of hydrazine oxidation reaction(HzOR)over carbon-based catalysts is highly propitious for the rational design of novel electrocatalysts for HzOR.In present work,isolated first-row transition metal atoms have been coordinated with N atoms on the graphite layers of carbon nanotubes via a M-N_(4)-C configuration(MSA/CNT,M=Fe,Co and Ni).The HzOR over the three single atom catalysts follows a predominant 4-electron reaction pathway to emit N_(2) and a negligible 1-electron pathway to emit trace of NH3,while their electrocatalytic activity for HzOR is dominated by the absorption energy of N2H4 on them.Furthermore,FeSA/CNT reverses the passivation effect on Fe/C and shows superior performance than CoSA/CNT and NiSA/CNT with a recorded high mass activity for HzOR due to the higher electronic charge of Fe over Co and Ni in the M-N_(4)-C configuration and the lowest absorption energy of N_(2)H_(4) on FeSA/CNT among the three MSA/CNT catalysts.