A NEW CLASS OF ELECTROCATALYSTS AND A GAS DIFFUSION ELECTRODE BASED THEREON

摘要

An electrocatalyst based on a highly electroconducting polymer and a transition metal, in which transition metal atoms are covalently bonded to heteroatoms of the backbone monomers of the polymer. The covalently bonded transition metal atoms are nucleation sites for catalytically active transition metal particles. The complex is prepared by complexing a highly electroconducting polymer with transition metal coordination ions and then reducing the transition metal ions to neutral atoms. An electrode for a fuel cell is made by impregnating an electrically conducting sheet with the catalytic complex and drying the impregnated sheet. A fuel cell with a liquid anolyte uses the electrode as its cathode. The anolyte includes an aqueous solution of conjugate polybasic acids buffer, such as H3PO4 - NaH2PO4 - Na2HPO4, and an alcohol such as methanol as a reductant.