April 7 - 11, 2025
Seattle, Washington
Symposium Supporters
2025 MRS Spring Meeting & Exhibit
EL02.05.13

Development of Metal Combined N-Doped Hierarchical Porous Carbon Film Catalysts via Vapor-Induced Phase Separation of Block Copolymers for Hydrogen Production

When and Where

Apr 8, 2025
5:00pm - 7:00pm
Summit, Level 2, Flex Hall C

Presenter(s)

Co-Author(s)

Bomyeong Choi1,Hyeong Min Jin1

Chungnam National University1

Abstract

Bomyeong Choi1,Hyeong Min Jin1

Chungnam National University1
The use of fossil fuels has progressively caused adverse effects on the environment and climate, promoting the development and adoption of eco-friendly and renewable energy sources. Among various energy sources, hydrogen is particularly promising due to its high energy density and eco-friendliness, making it a sustainable energy resource for future societies. Currently, commercial hydrogen production primarily relies on methane steam reforming and coal gasification, which utilize fossil fuels and emit significant amounts of carbon dioxide, negatively impacting the environment. In contrast, the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), based on water splitting, offers an environmentally friendly and low-carbon alternative that can produce high-purity hydrogen using abundant resources. Consequently, extensive research is being conducted in this field. HER is typically facilitated by electrocatalysts, often comprising carbon-based materials combined with noble metals. Designing catalysts with high specific surface areas is crucial for achieving high activity. However, due to the high cost of noble metals, there is an ongoing effort to minimize their usage or develop alternatives.
To address this, we propose catalysts combining various metals with a hierarchical carbon film. The hierarchical porous film was fabricated using PAN-b-P4VP through vapor-induced phase separation (VIPS) during spin coating. By utilizing the block copolymer PAN-b-P4VP, mesopores were formed through microphase separation. Additionally, macropores were generated using VIPS with non-solvents, and micropores were introduced during carbonization, resulting in a hierarchical porous structure. P4VP’s pyridine groups were utilized to enable selective ion loading by strongly interacting with the metal precursor. Furthermore, PAN and PAN/P4VP films were compared and analyzed to confirm structural differences, and the hierarchical structure was optimized to enhance catalytic performance. The chemical states of the carbon and metals were examined using X-ray-based analysis, while electrochemical tests were conducted to evaluate HER performance and elucidate the reaction mechanism. The proposed catalyst film exhibited excellent potential as an HER catalyst. The stable, metal-combined hierarchical porous film shows significant promise for future applications in various energy conversion reactions.

Keywords

polymer | porosity

Symposium Organizers

Paul Nealey,
Tamar Segal-Peretz, Technion–Israel Institute of Technology
Hyeong Min Jin, Chungnam National University
Su-Mi Hur, Chonnam National University

Session Chairs

Su-Mi Hur
Hyeong Min Jin

In this Session