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Eliminating micro-porous layer from gas diffusion electrode for use in high temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell

Su, Huaneng; Xu, Qian; Chong, Junjie; Li, Huaming; Sita, Cordellia; Pasupathi, Sivakumar

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Authors

Huaneng Su

Qian Xu

Junjie Chong

Huaming Li

Cordellia Sita

Sivakumar Pasupathi



Abstract

© 2016 Elsevier B.V. In this work, we report a simple strategy to improve the performance of high temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (HT-PEMFC) by eliminating the micro-porous layer (MPL) from its gas diffusion electrodes (GDEs). Due to the absence of liquid water and the general use of high amount of catalyst, the MPL in a HT-PEMFC system works limitedly. Contrarily, the elimination of the MPL leads to an interlaced micropore/macropore composited structure in the catalyst layer (CL), which favors gas transport and catalyst utilization, resulting in a greatly improved single cell performance. At the normal working voltage (0.6 V), the current density of the GDE eliminated MPL reaches 0.29 A cm−2, and a maximum power density of 0.54 W cm−2 at 0.36 V is obtained, which are comparable to the best results yet reported for the HT-PEMFCs with similar Pt loading and operated using air. Furthermore, the MPL-free GDE maintains an excellent durability during a preliminary 1400 h HT-PEMFC operation, owing to its structure advantages, indicating the feasibility of this electrode for practical applications.

Citation

Su, H., Xu, Q., Chong, J., Li, H., Sita, C., & Pasupathi, S. (2017). Eliminating micro-porous layer from gas diffusion electrode for use in high temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell. Journal of Power Sources, 341, 302-308. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2016.12.029

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Dec 6, 2016
Online Publication Date Dec 10, 2016
Publication Date Feb 15, 2017
Deposit Date Feb 15, 2017
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Journal of Power Sources
Print ISSN 0378-7753
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 341
Pages 302-308
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2016.12.029
Keywords high temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell, membrane electrode assembly, gas diffusion electrode, micro-porous layer, catalyst layer
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/914666
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2016.12.029

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