Preparation and evaluation of advanced electrocatalysts for phosphoric acid fuel cells. Final report

Technical Report · Fri Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1984

OSTI ID:6062447

Stonehart, P; Baris, J; Hochmuth, J; Pagliaro, P

This research program details the preparation and characterization of platinum electrocatalysts supported on carbon substrates. In the first instance, the platinum electrocatalysts were characterized for their crystallite sizes and the degree of dispersion on the carbon supports. One application of these electrocatalysts was for anodic oxidation of hydrogen in hot phosphoric acid fuel cells, coupled with the influence of low concentrations of carbon monoxide in the fuel gas stream. In a similar way, these platinum on carbon electrocatalysts were evaluated for oxygen reduction in hot phosphoric acid. An extension of these catalyst preparation techniques involved the preparation of binary noble metal alloys for anodic oxidation of hydrogen and for the preparation of noble metal-refractory metal mixtures for oxygen reduction. An exemplar alloy of platinum and palladium (50/50 at. %) was discovered for anodic oxidation of hydrogen in the presence of carbon monoxide, and patent disclosures were submitted. For the cathode, platinum-vanadium alloys were prepared showing improved performances over pure platinum. Preliminary experiments on electrocatalyst utilization in electrode structures showed low utilization of the noble metal when the electrocatalyst loading exceeded one wt % on the carbon. Further gains are to be expected from improving the electrode structures.

• Research Organization: Stonehart Associates, Inc., Madison, CT (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AI21-80ET17088
• OSTI ID: 6062447
• Report Number(s): DOE/NASA-0176-10; NASA-CR-168223; ON: DE85007400
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION
300503* -- Fuel Cells-- Materials
Components
& Auxiliaries
ACID ELECTROLYTE FUEL CELLS
CATALYST SUPPORTS
CATALYSTS
CATALYTIC EFFECTS
CHEMICAL PREPARATION
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
DATA
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
ELECTROCHEMICAL CELLS
ELEMENTS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FUEL CELLS
HYDROGEN
INFORMATION
METALS
NONMETALS
NUMERICAL DATA
OXIDATION
PALLADIUM
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PLATINUM
PLATINUM METALS
SYNTHESIS
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
VANADIUM