(716e) Design and Preparation of Nanoengineered Multi-Component Catalysts for Fuel Cells and Lithium–Air Batteries

The ability to engineer the size, shape, composition, phase and surface properties of nanoscale catalysts is important for many electrochemical energy devices.  Electrochemical energy devices such as fuel cells and lithium-air batteries represent a clean energy vector to address the energy and environmental problems today. A major area of challenge to the commercialization of these electrochemical energy devices is the poor performance of catalysts for the cathode reactions, calling for design of multifunctional and stable electrocatalysts.  To address this challenge, we have been developing advanced approaches to nanoengineering multi-component catalysts with controlled size, shape, composition, and alloying/composite structures.   In addition to synthesis and processing of multi-component nanoparticles, alloys, oxides, and core-shell nanostructures, a key emphasis is placed on establishing the correlation of the electrocatalytic activity and stability with nanostructural parameters of the catalysts.   Recent results in an effort to achieve the better design and fabrication of functional, stable and low-cost cathode catalysts for fuel cells and lithium-air batteries will also be discussed.