Boosting Bulk Oxygen Transport with Accessible Electrode Nanostructure in Low Pt Loading PEMFCs

Despite the high potential for reducing carbon emissions and contributing to the future of energy utilization, polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) face challenges such as high costs and sluggish oxygen transport in cathode catalyst layers (CCLs). In this study, the impact of pore size distribution on bulk oxygen transport behavior is explored by introducing nano calcium carbonate of varying particle sizes for pore-forming. Physicochemical characterizations for are employed to examine the electrode structure, while in situ electrochemical measurements are used to scrutinize bulk oxygen transport resistance, effective oxygen diffusivity (DO2eff$D_{{{\mathrm{O}}}_2}<^>{{\mathrm{eff}}}$) and fuel cell performance. Additionally, the CCLs are constructed with aid of Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) simulations and DO2eff$D_{{{\mathrm{O}}}_2}<^>{{\mathrm{eff}}}$ for CCLs with different pore size distribution are calculated. The findings reveal that DO2eff$D_{{{\mathrm{O}}}_2}<^>{{\mathrm{eff}}}$ initially increases and then decreases as the most probable pore size increases. A "sphere-pipe" model is proposed to describe practical bulk oxygen transport in CCLs, highlighting the significant role of not only the pore size of secondary pores but also the number of primary pores in bulk oxygen transport. The nanopore structure in CCLs is controlled with pore forming technology, leading to a 3.6-fold increase in effective oxygen diffusivity and a 45% improvement in peak power density of ultralow Pt MEA. A "sphere-pipe" model is proposed to describe the practical oxygen transport in CCLs, which benefits further investigation of nanostructure of gas diffusion electrode and scale-up of MEA manufacture. image