Impact of Platinum Primary Particle Loading on Fuel Cell Performance: Insights from Catalyst/Ionomer Ink Interactions

Berlinger, Sarah A.; Chowdhury, Anamika; Van Cleve, Tim; He, Aaron; Dagan, Nicholas; Neyerlin, Kenneth C.; McCloskey, Bryan D.; Radke, Clayton J.; Weber, Adam Z.

doi:10.1021/acsami.2c10499

Title: Impact of Platinum Primary Particle Loading on Fuel Cell Performance: Insights from Catalyst/Ionomer Ink Interactions

Journal Article · 01 August 2022 · ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.2c10499 · OSTI ID:1883202

^[1]; Chowdhury, Anamika ^[1];

^[2]; He, Aaron ^[1]; Dagan, Nicholas ^[1];

^[2];

^[1];

^[3];

^[4]

Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

A variety of electrochemical energy conversion technologies, including fuel cells, rely on solution-processing techniques (via inks) to form their catalyst layers (CLs). The CLs are heterogeneous structures, often with uneven ion-conducting polymer (ionomer) coverage and underutilized catalysts. Various platinum-supported-on-carbon colloidal catalyst particles are used, but little is known about how or why changing the primary particle loading (PPL, or the weight fraction of platinum of the carbon-platinum catalyst particles) impacts performance. Here, by investigating the CL gas-transport resistance and zeta-potentials of the corresponding inks as a function of PPL, a direct correlation between the CL high current density performance and ink zeta-potential is observed. This correlation stems from likely changes in ionomer distributions and catalyst-particle agglomeration as a function of PPL, as revealed by pH, zeta-potential, and impedance measurements. These findings are critical to unraveling the ionomer distribution heterogeneity in ink-based CLs and enabling enhanced Pt utilization and improved device performance for fuel cells and related electrochemical devices.

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Research Organization:: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: Fuel Cell Performance and Durability Consortium (FC-PAD); National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Office of Sustainable Transportation. Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231; AC36-08GO28308

OSTI ID:: 1883202

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA--5900-83782; MainId:84555; UUID:ccec7443-5582-408f-b79a-68d011af5965; MainAdminID:65152

Journal Information:: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, Journal Name: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces Journal Issue: 32 Vol. 14; ISSN 1944-8244

Publisher:: American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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