Durable High Power Density Fuel Cell Cathodes for Heavy-Duty Vehicles
- Carnegie Mellon Univ., Pittsburgh, PA (United States)
The aim of this project was to advance the performance and durability of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) for their use in the electrification of heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs). With an emphasis on total cost of ownership for HDVs, the development of the fuel cells focuses more heavily on the efficiency and lifetime (i.e., durability) than past focus on platinum group metal (PGM) costs and power density. This project takes a unique approach to achieving these goals – using next-generation polymer electrolytes in the electrodes that yield significant improvements in performance and dramatic reductions in degradation rates. A key outcome of the project was an ionomer/catalyst combination of a Pt catalyst on a low surface area carbon support (Pt/LSC) with a high oxygen permeability ionomer (HOPI) that met both the project’s performance target (current at 0.8 V, >0.3 A/cm2) and durability target (voltage loss at 0.8 A/cm2, <30 mV) with the goal of projected a >4X increase in life-time.
- Research Organization:
- Carnegie Mellon Univ., Pittsburgh, PA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Office of Sustainable Transportation and Fuels. Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO)
- DOE Contract Number:
- EE0008822
- OSTI ID:
- 2513875
- Report Number(s):
- DOE-CMU--08822
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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