High-Current Density Durability of Pt/C and PtCo/C Catalysts at Similar Particle Sizes in PEMFCs

Ramaswamy, Nagappan; Kumaraguru, Swami; Gu, Wenbin; Kukreja, Ratandeep Singh; Yu, Kang; Groom, Daniel; Ferreira, Paulo

doi:10.1149/1945-7111/abe5ea

Title: High-Current Density Durability of Pt/C and PtCo/C Catalysts at Similar Particle Sizes in PEMFCs

Journal Article · Mon Feb 01 00:00:00 EST 2021 · Journal of the Electrochemical Society

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1149/1945-7111/abe5ea· OSTI ID:1848543

; Kumaraguru, Swami; Gu, Wenbin; Kukreja, Ratandeep Singh; Yu, Kang; Groom, Daniel; Ferreira, Paulo

The durability of carbon supported PtCo-alloy based nanoparticle catalysts play a key role in the longevity of proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) in electric vehicle applications. To improve its durability, it is important to understand and mitigate the various factors that cause PtCo-based cathode catalyst layers (CCL) to lose performance over time. These factors include i) electrochemical surface area (ECSA) loss, ii) specific activity loss, iii) H⁺/O₂-transport changes and iv) Co²⁺contamination effects. We use a catalyst-specific accelerated stress test (AST) voltage cycling protocol to compare the durability of Pt and PtCo catalysts at similar average nanoparticle size and distribution. Our studies indicate that while Pt and PtCo nanoparticle catalysts suffer from similar magnitudes of electrochemical surface area (ECSA) losses, PtCo catalyst shows a significantly larger cell voltage loss at high current densities upon durability testing. The distinctive factor causing the large cell voltage loss of PtCo catalyst appears to be the secondary effects of the leached Co²⁺cations that contaminate the electrode ionomer. A 1D performance model has been used to quantify the cell voltage losses arising from various factors causing degradation of the membrane electrode assembly (MEA).

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Research Organization:: General Motors LLC, Detroit, MI (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)

DOE Contract Number:: EE0007651; EE0008821

OSTI ID:: 1848543

Journal Information:: Journal of the Electrochemical Society, Vol. 168, Issue 2; ISSN 0013-4651

Publisher:: IOP Publishing - The Electrochemical Society

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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