Recent developments in catalyst-related PEM fuel cell durability

Journal Article · Tue Feb 18 00:00:00 EST 2020 · Current Opinion in Electrochemistry

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coelec.2020.02.007· OSTI ID:1659922

Borup, Rodney L.; Kusoglu, Ahmet; Neyerlin, Kenneth C.; Mukundan, Rangachary; Ahluwalia, Rajesh K.; Cullen, David A.; More, Karren L.; Weber, Adam Z.; Myers, Deborah J.

Cost and durability remain the two major barriers to the widespread commercialization of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC)-based power systems, especially for the most impactful but challenging fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) application. Commercial FCEVs are now on the road; however, their PEMFC systems do not meet the cost targets established by the U.S. Department of Energy, primarily due to the high platinum loading needed on the cathode to achieve the requisite performance and lifetime. Furthermore, while the activities of a number of commercial Pt-based alloy cathode catalysts exceed the beginning-of-life (BOL) targets, these activities, and the overall cathode performance, degrade via a variety of mechanisms described herein. Degradation is mitigated in current FCEVs by utilizing a cathode catalyst with a lower BOL activity (e.g., much lower transition metal alloy content and larger BOL nanoparticle size), necessitating higher catalyst loadings, and through the utilization of system controls that avoid conditions known to exacerbate degradation processes, such as limiting the fuel cell stack voltage range. The design and development of active and robust materials and eliminating the need for vehicle mitigation strategies would greatly simplify the operating system, allowing for greater transient operation, avoiding large hybridization, and curtailing of fuel cell power. Although system mitigation strategies have provided the near-term pathway for FCEV commercialization, material-specific solutions are required to further reduce costs and improve operability and efficiency. Future material developments should focus on stabilization of the electrode structure and minimization of the catalyst particle susceptibility to dissolution caused by oxide formation and reduction over PEMFC cathode-relevant operating potentials plus minimization of support corrosion. Ex situ accelerated stress tests have provided insight into the processes responsible for material and performance degradation and will continue to provide useful information on the relative stability of materials and benchmarks for robust and stable materials-based solutions not requiring system mitigation strategies to achieve adequate lifetime.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Office of Sustainable Transportation. Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-08GO28308; AC02-06CH11357; 89233218CNA000001; AC02-05CH11231; AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1659922
• Report Number(s): LA-UR--21-22855; NREL/JA--5900-75711; 158496; MainId:6821; UUID:bb4f0eba-6d23-ea11-9c2b-ac162d87dfe5; MainAdminID:13647
• Journal Information: Current Opinion in Electrochemistry, Journal Name: Current Opinion in Electrochemistry Vol. 21; ISSN 2451-9103
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

25 ENERGY STORAGE
Carbon support
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION
Durability
Electrocatalyst
Electrode structure
Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC)
PtCo
Toyota Mirai