Advanced catalytic layer architectures for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

Abstract

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have recently reached a remarkable level of performance. Their high cost, however, has a negative impact on the market penetration. Present work reviews recent developments of advanced catalytic layer architectures proposed as an alternative to the conventional ones in view of decreasing the Pt loading and increasing the Pt‐specific power density. Various promising approaches will be discussed starting from the widely known 3M's nanostructured thin films to less publicized Pt‐decorated arrays of aligned carbon nanotubes/nanofibers. The issues to be addressed span from the preparation of three‐dimensionally ordered layers, to fundamental questions related to the optimization of their spatial structure to attain the maximum efficiency of material utilization and activity. WIREs Energy Environ 2014, 3:505–521. doi: 10.1002/wene.110 This article is categorized under: Fuel Cells and Hydrogen > Science and Materials Energy Efficiency > Science and Materials Energy Research & Innovation > Science and Materials

Nanostructured ultrathin catalyst layer with ordered platinum nanotube arrays for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

“…For the first time, in 2002, Middelman proposed an order-structured catalyst layer [19] with perpendicular channels for electron, proton, gas, and liquid transportation to enhance mass transport and improve electrocatalyst utilization. Subsequently, great efforts have been devoted to the fabrication of order-structured catalyst layers [21] based on different materials, such as Pt nanowire arrays [22][23][24][25] , metal oxide nanorod arrays [26,27] , carbon nanotube arrays [28][29][30][31] , and conductive polymer nanowire arrays [20,[32][33][34][35][36] . Additionally, other well-defined nanostructures have been developed as fuel cell electrodes for enhanced performance and durability, such as inverse opal structures [37] and ordered Pt nanowire networks [38] .…”

Investigation of Carbon Nanofiber‐supported Electrocatalysts with Ultra‐low Platinum Loading for the Use in PEM Fuel Cells

“…For an optimized electrode architecture, typically carbon black‐supported platinum catalysts with a certain loading according to their application as anode or cathode are situated at the interface between the membrane and the corresponding electrode. In order to improve PEMFC performance and stability at low catalyst loading, catalyst alloys with higher activity and durability than platinum , better performing catalyst supports than carbon blacks and novel electrode architectures have been studied . A common approach to reach a high‐performance fuel cells is linked to the possibility of preparing core‐shell catalyst materials with low Pt content, like Pt‐Pd, Pt‐Ru, or Pt‐Co .…”

Ordered Nafion® ionomers decorated polypyrrole nanowires for advanced electrochemical applications

“…Apparently, constructing advanced electrode architectures was an effective strategy to enhance the utilization of catalyst [10,11] .…”