Hydrogen evolution catalyst, hydrogen generation apparatus, hydrogen generation method

Abstract

The present disclosure provides the hydrogen evolution catalyst having superior hydrogen generation efficiency. According to the present disclosure, there is provided a hydrogen evolution catalyst comprising a platinum skin layer on a surface of an alloy nanoparticle composed of an alloy of platinum and transition metal.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows: 
     
         1 . A hydrogen evolution catalyst comprising a platinum skin layer on a surface of an alloy nanoparticle composed of an alloy of platinum and transition metal. 
     
     
         2 . The hydrogen evolution catalyst of  claim 1 , wherein the platinum skin layer is 1 to 2 atomic layers. 
     
     
         3 . The hydrogen evolution catalyst of  claim 1 , wherein the transition metal contains at least one selected from the group consisting of iron, cobalt, nickel, manganese, chromium, vanadium, titanium, niobium, molybdenum, lead, and tungsten. 
     
     
         4 . The hydrogen evolution catalyst of  claim 3 , wherein the transition metal is iron or cobalt. 
     
     
         5 . The hydrogen evolution catalyst of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the transition metal is iron or cobalt; and   an atomic composition percentage of the transition metal in the alloy nanoparticle is from 10% to 80%.   
     
     
         6 . The hydrogen evolution catalyst of  claim 1 , wherein the hydrogen evolution catalyst is dispersed on a support to form a supported catalyst. 
     
     
         7 . The hydrogen evolution catalyst of  claim 6 , wherein the support contains at least one selected from the group consisting of carbon black, graphitized carbon black, acetylene black, amorphous carbon, carbon nanotube, carbon nanohorn, tin oxide, and titanium oxide. 
     
     
         8 . A hydrogen generation apparatus comprising a DC voltage source and a catalyst cell, wherein:
 the catalyst cell comprises an anode catalyst layer, an electrolyte, and a cathode catalyst layer in this order;   the DC voltage source is configured to apply a DC voltage between the anode catalyst layer and the cathode catalyst layer; and   the cathode catalyst layer includes the hydrogen evolution catalyst of  claim 1 .   
     
     
         9 . The hydrogen generation apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the electrolyte is a solid polymer electrolyte membrane. 
     
     
         10 . A hydrogen generation method for generating hydrogen by using the hydrogen generation apparatus of  claim 8 , comprising:
 generating protons by supplying a proton source to the anode catalyst layer while a DC voltage is applied between the anode catalyst layer and the cathode catalyst layer; and   reducing the protons in the cathode catalyst layer to generate hydrogen.