The Influence of Catalyst Layer Thickness on the Performance and Degradation of PEM Fuel Cell Cathodes with Constant Catalyst Loading

被引:42
作者
Darab, Mandi [1 ,5 ]
Barnett, Alejandro Oyarce [2 ,6 ]
Lindbergh, Goran [2 ]
Thomassen, Magnus Skinlo [3 ,7 ]
Sunde, Svein [1 ,4 ]
机构
[1] Norwegian Univ Sci & Technol NTNU, Dept Mat Sci & Engn, N-7491 Trondheim, Norway
[2] Kungliga Tekniska Hogskolan, Sch Chem Sci & Engn, Appl Electrochem, SE-10044 Stockholm, Sweden
[3] SINTEF Mat & Chem, NO-7465 Trondheim, Norway
[4] Norwegian Univ Sci & Technol NTNU, Dept Mat Sci & Engn, N-7491 Trondheim, Norway
[5] OneSubsea, N-5024 Bergen, Norway
[6] SINTEF Mat & Chem, N-7465 Trondheim, Norway
[7] SINTEF Mat & Chem, N-0373 Oslo, Norway
关键词
Accelerated degradation test; Carbon corrosion; Slope doubling; Reaction order; Impedance; GAS-DIFFUSION ELECTRODES; ELECTROCHEMICAL IMPEDANCE SPECTROSCOPY; MASS-TRANSPORT LIMITATIONS; OXYGEN REDUCTION; CARBON CORROSION; WATER MANAGEMENT; LOW-TEMPERATURES; PLATINUM; ASSEMBLIES; KINETICS;
D O I
10.1016/j.electacta.2017.02.101
中图分类号
O646 [电化学、电解、磁化学];
学科分类号
081704 ;
摘要
Three catalytic layers containing Pt nanoparticles supported on high surface area carbon of different Pt loading but with the same total amount of platinum and therefore of different thickness were employed as cathode catalytic layers (CCLs) in a PEM fuel cell. The layers were subjected to a degradation protocol with an upper potential limit of 1.5 V. Upon exposure to the degradation protocol particle size increased, the electrochemical areas (ECAs) of the catalysts decreased, the catalytic layers became thinner, and the average pore size decreased, indicating both carbon and Pt corrosion. The relative decrease in the ECA was approximately the same for all three layers and was therefore approximately independent of CCL thickness. For all samples the reaction order with respect to oxygen was one half and the samples showed doubling of the slope of the potential vs. log current curve (dEld logi) at high current densities. This indicates that kinetics control the potential at low currents and kinetics and proton migration (ohmic drops in the catalytic layer) at high. However, the degradation protocol also introduced limitations due to oxygen diffusion in the agglomerates. This led to a quadrupling of the dEld logi-slope in 13% oxygen in the samples with the highest catalyst area per volume. For the sample with the lowest catalyst area per volume this slope increased by a factor of six in 13% oxygen, indicating that the local current density exceeded that required for the Tafel slope of the oxygen-reduction reaction (ORR) to double. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
引用
收藏
页码:505 / 516
页数:12
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