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 + /O 2 -transport changes and iv) Co 2+ 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 Co 2+ 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).
Ramaswamy, Nagappan, et al. "High-Current Density Durability of Pt/C and PtCo/C Catalysts at Similar Particle Sizes in PEMFCs." Journal of the Electrochemical Society, vol. 168, no. 2, Feb. 2021. https://doi.org/10.1149/1945-7111/abe5ea
Ramaswamy, Nagappan, Kumaraguru, Swami, Gu, Wenbin, Kukreja, Ratandeep Singh, Yu, Kang, Groom, Daniel, & Ferreira, Paulo (2021). High-Current Density Durability of Pt/C and PtCo/C Catalysts at Similar Particle Sizes in PEMFCs. Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 168(2). https://doi.org/10.1149/1945-7111/abe5ea
Ramaswamy, Nagappan, Kumaraguru, Swami, Gu, Wenbin, et al., "High-Current Density Durability of Pt/C and PtCo/C Catalysts at Similar Particle Sizes in PEMFCs," Journal of the Electrochemical Society 168, no. 2 (2021), https://doi.org/10.1149/1945-7111/abe5ea
@article{osti_1835450,
author = {Ramaswamy, Nagappan and Kumaraguru, Swami and Gu, Wenbin and Kukreja, Ratandeep Singh and Yu, Kang and Groom, Daniel and Ferreira, Paulo},
title = {High-Current Density Durability of Pt/C and PtCo/C Catalysts at Similar Particle Sizes in PEMFCs},
annote = { 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 + /O 2 -transport changes and iv) Co 2+ 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 Co 2+ 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). },
doi = {10.1149/1945-7111/abe5ea},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1835450},
journal = {Journal of the Electrochemical Society},
issn = {ISSN 0013-4651},
number = {2},
volume = {168},
place = {United States},
publisher = {The Electrochemical Society},
year = {2021},
month = {02}}
USDOE; USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Office of Sustainable Transportation. Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO)
Grant/Contract Number:
EE0007651; EE0008821
OSTI ID:
1835450
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1848543 OSTI ID: 2545909 OSTI ID: 2281791
Journal Information:
Journal of the Electrochemical Society, Journal Name: Journal of the Electrochemical Society Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 168; ISSN 0013-4651