Search Menu
DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information
Search Scholarly Publications

Title: Performance of Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell Electrodes with Atomically Dispersed (AD) Fe-C-N ORR Catalyst

Abstract

Activity of (AD)Fe-N-C catalyst with low Fe content is investigated in differential cells prepared by hot pressing anode gas diffusion electrodes (0.2 mgPt/cm2) to N211 membrane and brush painting the cathode catalyst ink. Polarization curves obtained in H2/O2 show double Tafel slopes which, in conjunction with the redox potential observed in cyclic voltammetry traces, forms the basis for a distributed ORR (oxygen reduction reaction) kinetic model with potential-dependent available sites. Application of this model to polarization data in H2/air provides the basis for formulating an oxygen transport model and leads to 7.7 ± mA0.6 mA/cm2 catalyst activity at 0.9 V, 31.5-34.3 mA/cm2 cell performance at 0.8 V, and 0.8-2 s/cm O2 transport resistance. A coupled kinetic, O2 transport and proton transport illustrates the projected improvements needed in catalyst activity and electrode structure to approach the automotive target of 1000 mW/cm2 stack power density while meeting the 1.45 kW/degrees C heat rejection constraint at 1.5 cathode stoichiometry. The model indicates that we need twelve-fold higher mass activity for reducing the kinetic losses, doubling of active site density and an engineered electrode structure for 50% lower proton transport resistance, as well as a 50% reduction in electrode thickness to limit the O2more » transport losses.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [1];  [3];  [2]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
  2. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
  3. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Sustainable Transportation Office. Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technologies Office
OSTI Identifier:
1574201
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA-5900-75392
Journal ID: ISSN 0013-4651
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC36-08GO28308
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Journal of the Electrochemical Society
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 166; Journal Issue: 14; Journal ID: ISSN 0013-4651
Publisher:
The Electrochemical Society
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION; fuel cells; PEM; atomically dispersed; ORR catalyst activity; polymer electrolyte fuel cell

Citation Formats

Ahluwalia, R. K., Wang, X., Osmieri, Luigi, Peng, J.-K., Chung, H. T., and Neyerlin, Kenneth C. Performance of Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell Electrodes with Atomically Dispersed (AD) Fe-C-N ORR Catalyst. United States: N. p., 2019. Web. doi:10.1149/2.0851914jes.
Copy to clipboard
Ahluwalia, R. K., Wang, X., Osmieri, Luigi, Peng, J.-K., Chung, H. T., & Neyerlin, Kenneth C. Performance of Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell Electrodes with Atomically Dispersed (AD) Fe-C-N ORR Catalyst. United States. https://doi.org/10.1149/2.0851914jes
Copy to clipboard
Ahluwalia, R. K., Wang, X., Osmieri, Luigi, Peng, J.-K., Chung, H. T., and Neyerlin, Kenneth C. Fri . "Performance of Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell Electrodes with Atomically Dispersed (AD) Fe-C-N ORR Catalyst". United States. https://doi.org/10.1149/2.0851914jes. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1574201.
Copy to clipboard
@article{osti_1574201,
title = {Performance of Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell Electrodes with Atomically Dispersed (AD) Fe-C-N ORR Catalyst},
author = {Ahluwalia, R. K. and Wang, X. and Osmieri, Luigi and Peng, J.-K. and Chung, H. T. and Neyerlin, Kenneth C},
abstractNote = {Activity of (AD)Fe-N-C catalyst with low Fe content is investigated in differential cells prepared by hot pressing anode gas diffusion electrodes (0.2 mgPt/cm2) to N211 membrane and brush painting the cathode catalyst ink. Polarization curves obtained in H2/O2 show double Tafel slopes which, in conjunction with the redox potential observed in cyclic voltammetry traces, forms the basis for a distributed ORR (oxygen reduction reaction) kinetic model with potential-dependent available sites. Application of this model to polarization data in H2/air provides the basis for formulating an oxygen transport model and leads to 7.7 ± mA0.6 mA/cm2 catalyst activity at 0.9 V, 31.5-34.3 mA/cm2 cell performance at 0.8 V, and 0.8-2 s/cm O2 transport resistance. A coupled kinetic, O2 transport and proton transport illustrates the projected improvements needed in catalyst activity and electrode structure to approach the automotive target of 1000 mW/cm2 stack power density while meeting the 1.45 kW/degrees C heat rejection constraint at 1.5 cathode stoichiometry. The model indicates that we need twelve-fold higher mass activity for reducing the kinetic losses, doubling of active site density and an engineered electrode structure for 50% lower proton transport resistance, as well as a 50% reduction in electrode thickness to limit the O2 transport losses.},
doi = {10.1149/2.0851914jes},
journal = {Journal of the Electrochemical Society},
number = 14,
volume = 166,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 EDT 2019},
month = {Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 EDT 2019}
}
Copy to clipboard
Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1149/2.0851914jes
Copyright Statement
Other availability
Search WorldCat Search WorldCat to find libraries that may hold this journal
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 15 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science
Save / Share:
Export Metadata
Save to My Library
You must Sign In or Create an Account in order to save documents to your library.

Works referenced in this record:

Recent Advances in Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reduction Reaction
journal, February 2016

Measurement of Catalyst Layer Electrolyte Resistance in PEFCs Using Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy
journal, January 2005

  • Makharia, Rohit; Mathias, Mark F.; Baker, Daniel R.
  • Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 152, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.1149/1.1888367

A review on non-precious metal electrocatalysts for PEM fuel cells
journal, January 2011

  • Chen, Zhongwei; Higgins, Drew; Yu, Aiping
  • Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 4, Issue 9
  • DOI: 10.1039/c0ee00558d

Spectroscopic insights into the nature of active sites in iron–nitrogen–carbon electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction in acid
journal, November 2016

Structure of Fe–N x –C Defects in Oxygen Reduction Reaction Catalysts from First-Principles Modeling
journal, June 2014

  • Holby, Edward F.; Wu, Gang; Zelenay, Piotr
  • The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, Vol. 118, Issue 26
  • DOI: 10.1021/jp503266h

RRDE and Voltammetric Study of ORR on Pyrolyzed Fe/Polyaniline Catalyst. On the Origins of Variable Tafel Slopes
journal, March 2011

  • Chlistunoff, Jerzy
  • The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, Vol. 115, Issue 14
  • DOI: 10.1021/jp108350t

Boosting Fuel Cell Performance with Accessible Carbon Mesopores
journal, February 2018

Recent development of efficient electrocatalysts derived from porous organic polymers for oxygen reduction reaction
journal, July 2017

Single Atomic Iron Catalysts for Oxygen Reduction in Acidic Media: Particle Size Control and Thermal Activation
journal, September 2017

  • Zhang, Hanguang; Hwang, Sooyeon; Wang, Maoyu
  • Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol. 139, Issue 40
  • DOI: 10.1021/jacs.7b06514

Measurement of Oxygen Transport Resistance in PEM Fuel Cells by Limiting Current Methods
journal, January 2009

  • Baker, Daniel R.; Caulk, David A.; Neyerlin, Kenneth C.
  • Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 156, Issue 9
  • DOI: 10.1149/1.3152226

The Impact of Platinum Loading on Oxygen Transport Resistance
journal, January 2012

  • Greszler, Thomas A.; Caulk, David; Sinha, Puneet
  • Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 159, Issue 12
  • DOI: 10.1149/2.061212jes

(Invited) Development of PFSA Ionomers for the Membrane and the Electrodes
journal, August 2014

Progress in nanostructured (Fe or Co)/N/C non-noble metal electrocatalysts for fuel cell oxygen reduction reaction
journal, February 2018

Integrating PGM‐Free Catalysts into Catalyst Layers and Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Devices
journal, December 2018

  • Banham, Dustin; Choi, Ja‐Yeon; Kishimoto, Takeaki
  • Advanced Materials, Vol. 31, Issue 31
  • DOI: 10.1002/adma.201804846

Metal–organic frameworks: a promising platform for constructing non-noble electrocatalysts for the oxygen-reduction reaction
journal, January 2019

  • Li, Liangjun; He, Jiangxiu; Wang, Ying
  • Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Vol. 7, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.1039/C8TA11704G

ElectroCat: DOE's approach to PGM-free catalyst and electrode R&D
journal, June 2018

Kinetics of Oxygen Electroreduction on Me–N–C (Me = Fe, Co, Cu) Catalysts in Acidic Medium: Insights on the Effect of the Transition Metal
journal, August 2017

  • Osmieri, Luigi; Monteverde Videla, Alessandro H. A.; Ocón, Pilar
  • The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, Vol. 121, Issue 33
  • DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.7b02455

Direct hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle cost analysis: System and high-volume manufacturing description, validation, and outlook
journal, September 2018

Progress in the Development of Fe‐Based PGM‐Free Electrocatalysts for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction
journal, December 2018

  • Martinez, Ulises; Komini Babu, Siddharth; Holby, Edward F.
  • Advanced Materials, Vol. 31, Issue 31
  • DOI: 10.1002/adma.201806545

Reactivity Descriptors for the Activity of Molecular MN4 Catalysts for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction
journal, September 2016

  • Zagal, José H.; Koper, Marc T. M.
  • Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Vol. 55, Issue 47
  • DOI: 10.1002/anie.201604311

Generation of Active Sites by Potential-Driven Surface Processes: A Central Aspect of Electrocatalysis
journal, September 2014

Agglomerates in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell Electrodes: Part II. Transport Characterization
journal, January 2018

  • Cetinbas, Firat C.; Ahluwalia, Rajesh K.
  • Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 165, Issue 13
  • DOI: 10.1149/2.0301813jes

Asymmetric Volcano Trend in Oxygen Reduction Activity of Pt and Non-Pt Catalysts: In Situ Identification of the Site-Blocking Effect
journal, January 2017

  • Li, Jingkun; Alsudairi, Amell; Ma, Zi-Feng
  • Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol. 139, Issue 4
  • DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6b11072

Recent advances in the design of tailored nanomaterials for efficient oxygen reduction reaction
journal, November 2016

Current challenge and perspective of PGM-free cathode catalysts for PEM fuel cells
journal, June 2017

Effect of Relative Humidity on Oxygen Reduction Kinetics in a PEMFC
journal, January 2005

  • Neyerlin, K. C.; Gasteiger, Hubert A.; Mittelsteadt, Cortney K.
  • Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 152, Issue 6
  • DOI: 10.1149/1.1897368

Direct atomic-level insight into the active sites of a high-performance PGM-free ORR catalyst
journal, August 2017

Cathode Catalyst Utilization for the ORR in a PEMFC
journal, January 2007

  • Neyerlin, K. C.; Gu, Wenbin; Jorne, Jacob
  • Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 154, Issue 2
  • DOI: 10.1149/1.2400626

Engineering nanostructures of PGM-free oxygen-reduction catalysts using metal-organic frameworks
journal, January 2017

Performance of advanced automotive fuel cell systems with heat rejection constraint
journal, March 2016

    Sort by:
    [ × clear filter / sort ]

    Similar Records in DOE PAGES and OSTI.GOV collections: