DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Impedance Spectroscopy Characterization of PEM Fuel Cells with Fe-N-C-Based Cathodes

Journal Article · · Journal of the Electrochemical Society
ORCiD logo [1];  [2]; ORCiD logo [3];  [4]
  1. Univ. of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI (United States)
  2. Pajarito Powder, LLC, Albuquerque, NM (United States)
  3. Inst. of Energy and Climate Research, Jülich (Germany)
  4. Univ. of California, Irvine, CA (United States)

We report impedance spectroscopy analysis of PEM fuel cells built with platinum group metal-free (PGM-free) Fe-N-C cathodes with the catalyst loading and ionomer to catalyst ratio being variable parameters. The dependence of key cathode transport and kinetic parameters on the cell current density J are obtained in the range from 0.025 to 0.4 A cm-2. The electrode performance is evaluated using the characteristic current densities for proton and oxygen transport in the cathode catalyst layer. Overall, certain electrode configurations demonstrate proton and oxygen transport properties comparable to those of Pt/C systems, making them promising substitutes for platinum at cathodic side of PEM fuel cells.

Research Organization:
Pajarito Powder, LLC, Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
Grant/Contract Number:
EE0008419
OSTI ID:
1613520
Journal Information:
Journal of the Electrochemical Society, Vol. 166, Issue 10; ISSN 0013-4651
Publisher:
IOP Publishing - The Electrochemical SocietyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (31)

Impedance Spectroscopy Study of the PEM Fuel Cell Cathode with Nonuniform Nafion Loading journal January 2017
A mechanistic study of 4-aminoantipyrine and iron derived non-platinum group metal catalyst on the oxygen reduction reaction journal February 2013
Spectroscopic insights into the nature of active sites in iron–nitrogen–carbon electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction in acid journal November 2016
Performance, methanol tolerance and stability of Fe-aminobenzimidazole derived catalyst for direct methanol fuel cells journal July 2016
Cathode catalyst layers with ionomer to carbon mass ratios in the range 0–2 studied by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and performance measurements journal December 2014
Nano-structured non-platinum catalysts for automotive fuel cell application journal September 2015
Elucidating Oxygen Reduction Active Sites in Pyrolyzed Metal–Nitrogen Coordinated Non-Precious-Metal Electrocatalyst Systems journal April 2014
PGM-free Fe-N-C catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction: Catalyst layer design journal September 2016
Mechanistic Insights into the Oxygen Reduction Reaction on Metal-N-C Electrocatalysts under Fuel Cell Conditions journal September 2016
Impedance Spectroscopy Characterization of Oxygen Transport in Low– and High–Pt Loaded PEM Fuel Cells journal January 2017
Mechanism of Oxygen Reduction Reaction on Transition Metal–Nitrogen–Carbon Catalysts: Establishing the Role of Nitrogen-containing Active Sites journal October 2018
Variation of PEM Fuel Cell Physical Parameters with Current: Impedance Spectroscopy Study journal January 2016
Modelling the performance of the cathode catalyst layer of polymer electrolyte fuel cells journal August 1998
Tolerance of non-platinum group metals cathodes proton exchange membrane fuel cells to air contaminants journal August 2016
Durability challenges and perspective in the development of PGM-free electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction journal June 2018
Structure and activity of metal-centered coordination sites in pyrolyzed metal–nitrogen–carbon catalysts for the electrochemical reduction of O2 journal June 2018
ElectroCat: DOE's approach to PGM-free catalyst and electrode R&D journal June 2018
Impact of Inhomogeneous Catalyst Layer Properties on Impedance Spectra of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells journal January 2015
Critical advancements in achieving high power and stable nonprecious metal catalyst–based MEAs for real-world proton exchange membrane fuel cell applications journal March 2018
A catalyst layer optimisation approach using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy for PEM fuel cells operated with pyrolysed transition metal-N-C catalysts journal August 2016
Electrochemical impedance of the cathode catalyst layer in polymer electrolyte fuel cells journal October 1999
Insights on the extraordinary tolerance to alcohols of Fe-N-C cathode catalysts in highly performing direct alcohol fuel cells journal April 2017
Systematic study of back pressure and anode stoichiometry effects on spatial PEMFC performance distribution journal October 2011
Characterization of Ionic Conductivity Profiles within Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Gas Diffusion Electrodes by Impedance Spectroscopy journal January 1999
Is the rapid initial performance loss of Fe/N/C non precious metal catalysts due to micropore flooding? journal January 2017
Nano-structured platinum group metal-free catalysts and their integration in fuel cell electrode architectures journal December 2018
A Model for PEM Fuel Cell Impedance: Oxygen Flow in the Channel Triggers Spatial and Frequency Oscillations of the Local Impedance journal January 2015
Ionic Conductivity of PEMFC Electrodes journal January 2003
The regimes of catalyst layer operation in a fuel cell journal September 2010
Understanding PGM-free catalysts by linking density functional theory calculations and structural analysis: Perspectives and challenges journal June 2018
A physical model for catalyst layer impedance journal March 2012