Upcycling of Nylon 6,6 into Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Supports for Highly Active Fuel Cell Catalysts
발표자조연주 (한국과학기술연구원 전북분원)
연구책임자이영준 (한국과학기술연구원 전북분원)
공동저자조연주 (한국과학기술연구원 전북분원), 이영준 (한국과학기술연구원 전북분원)
Abstract
Nitrogen-doped carbon materials have attracted significant attention as supports for enhancing activity and durability of the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). However, conventional nitrogen-doping processes often involve high costs and limited improvement in electrochemical performance. Herein, nitrogen-doped carbon supports were fabricated using nitrogen-containing nylon 6,6 as a precursor via hydrothermal synthesis followed by carbonization. Pt-based catalysts supported on the nylon 6,6-derived nitrogen-doped carbon supports exhibit enhanced electrochemical activity and durability compared to non-doped carbon supports. Notably, the catalyst exhibited a mass activity of 0.69 A mg_Pt-1 at 0.9 V, accompanied by an improvement in peak power density. This study demonstrates polymer-based hydrothermal synthesis as a low-cost strategy for developing durable fuel cell catalyst supports and high-value upcycling of polymer resources.