Efficient Oxygen Evolution Reaction Catalysts for Cell Reversal and Start/Stop Tolerance in Fuel Cells

Book · Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2013

OSTI ID:1087458

Atanasoski, Radoslav ^[1]; Atanasoska, Liliana ^[1]; Cullen, David A ^[2]

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1. 3M Industrial Mineral Products
2. ORNL

Minute amounts of ruthenium and iridium on platinum nanostructured thin films have been evaluated in an effort to reduce carbon corrosion and Pt dissolution during transient conditions in proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Electrochemical tests showed the catalysts had a remarkable oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity, even greater than that of bulk, metallic thin films. Stability tests within a fuel cell environment showed that rapid Ru dissolution could be managed with the addition of Ir. Membrane electrode assemblies containing a Ru to Ir atomic ratio of 1:9 were evaluated under startup/shutdown and cell reversal conditions for OER catalyst loadings ranging from 1 to 10 g/cm2. These tests affirmed that electrode potentials can be controlled through the addition of OER catalysts without impacting the oxygen reduction reaction on the cathode or the hydrogen oxidation reaction on the anode. The morphology and chemical structure of the thin OER layers were characterized by scanning transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy in an effort to establish a correlation between interfacial properties and electrochemical behavior.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Shared Research Equipment Collaborative Research Center
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: DE-AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1087458
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English