Integration of a Pd-CeO₂/C Anode with Pt and Pt-Free Cathode Catalysts in High Power Density Anion Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

Abstract

Recent advances in developing high-performance anion exchange membranes (AEMs) for fuel cell (AEMFC) applications enable catalyst developers to investigate and test cheaper and/or more sustainable materials under operando fuel cell conditions. In this article, we integrate a high-performance Pd-CeO 2 /C hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) catalyst into AEMFCs in combination with different Pt and Pt-free cathodes. A H 2 / O 2 AEMFC peak power performance of 2 W cm −2 at 80 °C is obtained when using a Pt/C cathode (2 A cm −2 is achieved at a cell voltage of 0.6 V), which translates to 1 W cm −2 peak power density (0.7 A cm −2 is achieved at 0.6 V) at 60 °C with the switch to a cheap, critical raw material (CRM)-free Fe/C cathode catalyst.

Recent Insights on Catalyst Layers for Anion Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

“…Among them, the most promising non‐PGM catalyst, Fe/C, exhibits very high ORR onset and half‐wave potentials during RDE tests, which is comparable or even better than Pt/C. [ 82 ] But, there still remains a big performance gap between Fe/C and Pt/C catalysts during AEMFC tests, even with high non‐PGM catalyst loading (2–4 mg cm −2 ). The very low metal content and highly dispersed non‐PGM active sites combined with a high catalyst loading requirement lead to thicker catalyst layers being needed.…”

Membrane Technologies for Decarbonization

“…However, at present, according to several authors, the situation has significantly improved due to creation of new stable anion-exchange membranes with high conductivity [230][231][232]. Intensive engineering developments and the introduction of new catalysts made it possible to significantly reduce the problems associated with the sorption of carbon dioxide and uneven distribution of water [233,234], as well as to create fundamentally new high-power AFCs based on anion-exchange membranes [4,232,235].…”

Recent Advancement on Anion Exchange Membranes for Fuel Cell and Water Electrolysis

“…Recently, Miller et al. used Pd‐CeO 2 /C HOR catalyst and different Pt‐free ORR catalysts (Pd/C, Ag−Co/C, and Fe/C) in AEMFCs [79] . The achievable PPDs in H 2 /O 2 fuel cell were 1.3 W cm −2 and 1 W cm −2 at 80 °C using Pd/C and Ag−Co/C ORR catalysts, respectively.…”