High-Current Density Durability of Pt/C and PtCo/C Catalysts at Similar Particle Sizes in PEMFCs
Abstract
The durability of carbon supported PtCo-alloy based nanoparticle catalysts play a key role in the longevity of proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) in electric vehicle applications. To improve its durability, it is important to understand and mitigate the various factors that cause PtCo-based cathode catalyst layers (CCL) to lose performance over time. These factors include i) electrochemical surface area (ECSA) loss, ii) specific activity loss, iii) H + /O 2 -transport changes and iv) Co 2+ contamination effects. We use a catalyst-specific accelerated stress test (AST) voltage cycling protocol to compare the durability of Pt and PtCo catalysts at similar average nanoparticle size and distribution. Our studies indicate that while Pt and PtCo nanoparticle catalysts suffer from similar magnitudes of electrochemical surface area (ECSA) losses, PtCo catalyst shows a significantly larger cell voltage loss at high current densities upon durability testing. The distinctive factor causing the large cell voltage loss of PtCo catalyst appears to be the secondary effects of the leached Co 2+ cations that contaminate the electrode ionomer. A 1D performance model has been used to quantify the cell voltage losses arising from various factors causing degradation of the membrane electrode assembly (MEA).
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- General Motors LLC, Pontiac, MI (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE; USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Office of Sustainable Transportation. Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1835450
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 2281791
- Grant/Contract Number:
- EE0007651; EE0008821
- Resource Type:
- Published Article
- Journal Name:
- Journal of the Electrochemical Society
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Name: Journal of the Electrochemical Society Journal Volume: 168 Journal Issue: 2; Journal ID: ISSN 0013-4651
- Publisher:
- The Electrochemical Society
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 08 HYDROGEN; PEMFC; PtCo alloy Catalyst; cathode; durability
Citation Formats
Ramaswamy, Nagappan, Kumaraguru, Swami, Gu, Wenbin, Kukreja, Ratandeep Singh, Yu, Kang, Groom, Daniel, and Ferreira, Paulo. High-Current Density Durability of Pt/C and PtCo/C Catalysts at Similar Particle Sizes in PEMFCs. United States: N. p., 2021.
Web. doi:10.1149/1945-7111/abe5ea.
Ramaswamy, Nagappan, Kumaraguru, Swami, Gu, Wenbin, Kukreja, Ratandeep Singh, Yu, Kang, Groom, Daniel, & Ferreira, Paulo. High-Current Density Durability of Pt/C and PtCo/C Catalysts at Similar Particle Sizes in PEMFCs. United States. https://doi.org/10.1149/1945-7111/abe5ea
Ramaswamy, Nagappan, Kumaraguru, Swami, Gu, Wenbin, Kukreja, Ratandeep Singh, Yu, Kang, Groom, Daniel, and Ferreira, Paulo. Mon .
"High-Current Density Durability of Pt/C and PtCo/C Catalysts at Similar Particle Sizes in PEMFCs". United States. https://doi.org/10.1149/1945-7111/abe5ea.
@article{osti_1835450,
title = {High-Current Density Durability of Pt/C and PtCo/C Catalysts at Similar Particle Sizes in PEMFCs},
author = {Ramaswamy, Nagappan and Kumaraguru, Swami and Gu, Wenbin and Kukreja, Ratandeep Singh and Yu, Kang and Groom, Daniel and Ferreira, Paulo},
abstractNote = {The durability of carbon supported PtCo-alloy based nanoparticle catalysts play a key role in the longevity of proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) in electric vehicle applications. To improve its durability, it is important to understand and mitigate the various factors that cause PtCo-based cathode catalyst layers (CCL) to lose performance over time. These factors include i) electrochemical surface area (ECSA) loss, ii) specific activity loss, iii) H + /O 2 -transport changes and iv) Co 2+ contamination effects. We use a catalyst-specific accelerated stress test (AST) voltage cycling protocol to compare the durability of Pt and PtCo catalysts at similar average nanoparticle size and distribution. Our studies indicate that while Pt and PtCo nanoparticle catalysts suffer from similar magnitudes of electrochemical surface area (ECSA) losses, PtCo catalyst shows a significantly larger cell voltage loss at high current densities upon durability testing. The distinctive factor causing the large cell voltage loss of PtCo catalyst appears to be the secondary effects of the leached Co 2+ cations that contaminate the electrode ionomer. A 1D performance model has been used to quantify the cell voltage losses arising from various factors causing degradation of the membrane electrode assembly (MEA).},
doi = {10.1149/1945-7111/abe5ea},
journal = {Journal of the Electrochemical Society},
number = 2,
volume = 168,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Feb 22 00:00:00 EST 2021},
month = {Mon Feb 22 00:00:00 EST 2021}
}
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