Synthesis of carbon-based electrocatalysts by electron beam irradiation

Ota, Tomonori*; Hagiwara, Tokio*; Sugimoto, Masaki; Yamamoto, Shunya; Koshikawa, Hiroshi; Yamaki, Tetsuya

Nitrogen (N)-doped carbon-based electrocatalysts are expected as a platinum alternative material for cost reduction of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells. However, nobody has not yet established the method of introducing N atoms in a graphene structure at high concentrations. Therefore, our purpose is to propose a new method of N doping using electron beam irradiation at high temperatures in an ammonia atmosphere. We developed here a sample chamber with a heating device, gas inlet and outlet, which made it possible to perform the irradiation without any temperature change. As a result, the phenolic resin, that is, a source of carbon-based electrocatalysts was irradiated with 2 MeV electrons at a dose rate of 2 kGy/s while being maintained at 300 C with a high precision as 2 C.