Fuel Cell Performance Implications of Membrane Electrode Assembly Fabrication with Platinum-Nickel Nanowire Catalysts

Mauger, Scott A.; Neyerlin, K. C.; Alia, Shaun M.; Ngo, Chilan; Babu, Siddharth Komini; Hurst, Katherine E.; Pylypenko, Svitlana; Litster, Shawn; Pivovar, Bryan S.

doi:10.1149/2.1061803jes

Title: Fuel Cell Performance Implications of Membrane Electrode Assembly Fabrication with Platinum-Nickel Nanowire Catalysts

Journal Article · 13 March 2018 · Journal of the Electrochemical Society

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1149/2.1061803jes · OSTI ID:1425998

^[1]; Neyerlin, K. C. ^[1];

^[1]; Ngo, Chilan ^[2];

^[3]; Hurst, Katherine E. ^[1];

^[2]; Litster, Shawn ^[3]; Pivovar, Bryan S. ^[1]

National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States). Chemistry and Nanoscience Center
Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States). Dept. of Chemistry
Carnegie Mellon Univ., Pittsburgh, PA (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering

Platinum-nickel nanowire (PtNiNW) catalysts have shown exceptionally high oxygen reduction mass activity in rotating disk electrode measurements. However, the ability to successfully incorporate PtNiNWs into high performance membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) has been challenging due to their size, shape, density, dispersion characteristics, and corrosion-susceptible nickel core. We have investigated the impact of specific processing steps and electrode composition on observed fuel cell performance and electrochemical properties in order to optimize performance. We have found that nickel ion contamination is a major concern for PtNiNWs that can be addressed through ion exchange in fabricated/tested MEAs or by acid leaching of catalyst materials prior to MEA incorporation, with the latter being the more successful method. Additionally, decreased ionomer incorporation has led to the highest performance demonstrating 238 mA/mg_Pt (0.9 V IR-free) for PtNiNWs (pre-leached to 80 wt% Pt) with 9 wt% ionomer incorporation.

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Research Organization:: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (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)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

OSTI ID:: 1425998

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1430822

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-5900-70607

Journal Information:: Journal of the Electrochemical Society, Vol. 165, Issue 3; ISSN 0013-4651

Publisher:: The Electrochemical SocietyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 36 works

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Insight on Single Cell Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Performance of Pt-Cu/C Cathode Bele, Marjan; Gatalo, Matija; Jovanovič, Primož Catalysts, Vol. 9, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.3390/catal9060544	journal	June 2019

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Title: Fuel Cell Performance Implications of Membrane Electrode Assembly Fabrication with Platinum-Nickel Nanowire Catalysts

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