High performance proton exchange membrane fuel cells with sputter-deposited Pt layer electrodes

An ultra-low platinum (Pt) loading (0.1 mg cm(2)) electrocatalyst layer (1 mu m thick) was deposited on an uncatalyzed gas diffusion electrode utilizing the sputter-deposition technique. The performance of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) with this electrode for the cathode (the anode was a conventional low Pt loading E-TEK electrode, 20% Pt/C, 0.4 mg cm(2)) showed a good oxygen electrode performance, even at high current densities. The performance of the oxygen electrode was comparable to that of a standard E-TEK electrode, but was somewhat lower than the standard E-TEK electrode with a sputtered Pt layer. However, the potential of the PEMFC with this cathode showed mass transport limitations because of the unexpectedly high anode overpotentials at higher current densities. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.