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Title: Boosting Fuel Cell Performance with Accessible Carbon Mesopores

Abstract

We present that heavy use of scarce Pt in the electrodes poses a barrier to the application of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) for transportation. Although some automakers can now commercialize fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) with as little as 30 g of Pt, this is still substantially more than what incumbent internal combustion engine vehicles use (2-8 g of precious metals). A long-term target of <5 g of Pt-group metals per vehicle is probably needed to be sustainable. Since W. R. Grove’s invention of the fuel cell in 1839, most breakthroughs in fuel cell performance have been associated with an increase in the so-called three-phase interface—the interface where the reactant gas meets electrons in the solid phase and protons in the electrolyte phase. Pt is made into nanoparticles and supported on carbon black to increase the mass-specific Pt surface area and to secure large pores for reactant oxygen gas to access Pt. Solid electrolyte such as the perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) ionomer is blended with the catalyst to carry protons to the Pt surface. Lastly, despite a long history of maximizing the three-phase interfacial area, one must realize that an optimized three-phase interface does not equal a maximum Pt/ionomermore » interface area.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [3]; ORCiD logo [2]
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  1. General Motors Global Propulsion Systems, Pontiac, MI (United States); Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
  2. General Motors Global Propulsion Systems, Pontiac, MI (United States)
  3. Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
General Motors LLC, Detroit, MI (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Transportation Office. Fuel Cell Technologies Office
OSTI Identifier:
1504941
Grant/Contract Number:  
EE0007271
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
ACS Energy Letters
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 3; Journal Issue: 3; Journal ID: ISSN 2380-8195
Publisher:
American Chemical Society (ACS)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY; 42 ENGINEERING

Citation Formats

Yarlagadda, Venkata, Carpenter, Michael K., Moylan, Thomas E., Kukreja, Ratandeep Singh, Koestner, Roland, Gu, Wenbin, Thompson, Levi, and Kongkanand, Anusorn. Boosting Fuel Cell Performance with Accessible Carbon Mesopores. United States: N. p., 2018. Web. doi:10.1021/acsenergylett.8b00186.
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Yarlagadda, Venkata, Carpenter, Michael K., Moylan, Thomas E., Kukreja, Ratandeep Singh, Koestner, Roland, Gu, Wenbin, Thompson, Levi, & Kongkanand, Anusorn. Boosting Fuel Cell Performance with Accessible Carbon Mesopores. United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsenergylett.8b00186
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Yarlagadda, Venkata, Carpenter, Michael K., Moylan, Thomas E., Kukreja, Ratandeep Singh, Koestner, Roland, Gu, Wenbin, Thompson, Levi, and Kongkanand, Anusorn. Wed . "Boosting Fuel Cell Performance with Accessible Carbon Mesopores". United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsenergylett.8b00186. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1504941.
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@article{osti_1504941,
title = {Boosting Fuel Cell Performance with Accessible Carbon Mesopores},
author = {Yarlagadda, Venkata and Carpenter, Michael K. and Moylan, Thomas E. and Kukreja, Ratandeep Singh and Koestner, Roland and Gu, Wenbin and Thompson, Levi and Kongkanand, Anusorn},
abstractNote = {We present that heavy use of scarce Pt in the electrodes poses a barrier to the application of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) for transportation. Although some automakers can now commercialize fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) with as little as 30 g of Pt, this is still substantially more than what incumbent internal combustion engine vehicles use (2-8 g of precious metals). A long-term target of <5 g of Pt-group metals per vehicle is probably needed to be sustainable. Since W. R. Grove’s invention of the fuel cell in 1839, most breakthroughs in fuel cell performance have been associated with an increase in the so-called three-phase interface—the interface where the reactant gas meets electrons in the solid phase and protons in the electrolyte phase. Pt is made into nanoparticles and supported on carbon black to increase the mass-specific Pt surface area and to secure large pores for reactant oxygen gas to access Pt. Solid electrolyte such as the perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) ionomer is blended with the catalyst to carry protons to the Pt surface. Lastly, despite a long history of maximizing the three-phase interfacial area, one must realize that an optimized three-phase interface does not equal a maximum Pt/ionomer interface area.},
doi = {10.1021/acsenergylett.8b00186},
journal = {ACS Energy Letters},
number = 3,
volume = 3,
place = {United States},
year = {2018},
month = {2}
}
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Journal Article:
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Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1021/acsenergylett.8b00186
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Cited by: 56 works
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Figures / Tables:

Figure 1 Figure 1: ORR kinetic and transport (O2 and proton) characteristics of catalyst layer structures made from three types of carbon (gray). Small black and gray circles represent relatively high and low activity Pt particle, respectively, due to ionomer (blue) adsorption.
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    Works referencing / citing this record:

    High-Performance Hydroxide Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells through Optimization of Relative Humidity, Backpressure and Catalyst Selection
    journal, January 2019

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    Ionomer distribution control in porous carbon-supported catalyst layers for high-power and low Pt-loaded proton exchange membrane fuel cells
    journal, September 2019

    Through-the-Membrane Transient Phenomena in PEM Fuel Cells: A Modeling Study
    journal, January 2019

    • Goshtasbi, Alireza; García-Salaberri, Pablo; Chen, Jixin
    • Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 166, Issue 7
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    Pt‐Based Nanocrystal for Electrocatalytic Oxygen Reduction
    journal, December 2018

    Tailoring Catalyst Morphology towards High Performance for Low Pt Loaded PEMFC Cathodes
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    High-purity pyrrole-type FeN 4 sites as a superior oxygen reduction electrocatalyst
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