Numerical assessment of dependence of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell performance on cathode catalyst layer parameters

Obut, Salih; Alper, Erdoğan

doi:10.1016/j.jpowsour.2010.10.030

Cited by 31 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 42 publications

(69 reference statements)

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“…The thickness the catalyst layers have been shown experimentally [10,11,12,13,14,15] and theoretically [16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23] to be decisive in determining the performance of the layers. From the data of Wilson and Gottesfeld [24] a thickness of around 4 µm appears to strike an optimum compromise in terms of catalyst utilization and performance for catalyst-coated membrane (CCM) electrodes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Influence of Catalyst Layer Thickness on the Performance and Degradation of PEM Fuel Cell Cathodes with Constant Catalyst Loading

Darab

Barnett

Lindbergh

et al. 2017

Electrochimica Acta

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Three catalytic layers containing Pt nanoparticles supported on high surface area carbon of different Pt loading but with the same total amount of platinum and therefore of different thickness were employed as cathode catalytic layers (CCLs) in a PEM fuel cell. The layers were subjected to a degradation protocol with an upper potential limit of 1.5 V. Upon exposure to the degradation protocol particle size increased, the electrochemical areas (ECAs) of the catalysts decreased, the catalytic layers became thinner, and the average pore size decreased, indicating both carbon and Pt corrosion. The relative decrease in the ECA was approximately the same for all three layers and was therefore approximately independent of CCL thickness. For all samples the reaction order with respect to oxygen was one half and the samples showed doubling of the slope of the potential vs. log current curve (dE/d log i) at high current densities. This indicates that kinetics control the potential at low currents and kinetics and proton migration (ohmic drops in the catalytic layer) at high. However, the degradation protocol also introduced limitations due to oxygen diffusion in the agglomerates. This led to a quadrupling of the dE/d log i-slope in 13% oxygen in the samples with the highest catalyst area per volume. For the sample with the lowest catalyst area per volume this slope increased by a factor of six in 13% oxygen, indicating that the local current density exceeded that required for the Tafel slope of the oxygen-reduction reaction (ORR) to double.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Influence of Catalyst Layer Thickness on the Performance and Degradation of PEM Fuel Cell Cathodes with Constant Catalyst Loading

Darab

Barnett

Lindbergh

et al. 2017

Electrochimica Acta

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“…The oxygen transport resistance in the agglomerate is a function of these parameters. 12 However, a wide range of agglomerate sizes from 100 nm to 2000 nm, and ionomer thicknesses from 10 nm to 100 nm, had to be assumed in the literature [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] as fitting parameters in order to match their experimental data. Such large and random agglomerate size and thick ionomer film were not supported by microscopy observations.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling and Experimental Validation of Pt Loading and Electrode Composition Effects in PEM Fuel Cells

Hao

Moriyama

et al. 2015

J. Electrochem. Soc.

138

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A low platinum loading model, considering both the platinum loading and platinum particle distribution on carbon support, is developed. This model takes into account the interfacial transport resistances at ionomer, water film and Pt particle surfaces in order to capture the effects of Pt loading and electrode composition on fuel cell performance. After coupling this electrode model into a comprehensive PEM fuel cell model, i.e. M2 model, experimental validation is performed for a wide range of Pt loading from 0.2 to 0.025 mg/cm 2 for two electrode compositions with and without carbon dilution. Good agreement between the predicted and measured polarization curves is achieved under wide-ranging operating conditions. The agglomerate size effect is also examined and it is shown that the agglomerates have virtually no effect on cell performance for agglomerate radius smaller than 150 nm. Since in realistic fuel cell catalyst layers, agglomerates may not exist, or may only exist with sizes no larger than 150 nm based on SEM observations, the present work suggests that the standard homogeneous electrode model is suitable and sufficient for analyses of transport losses in PEM fuel cell electrodes where interfacial transport resistances exist.

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“…In addition, enlarging the channel/rib width ratio enhances the cell performance because of an increase in the reaction area of the oxygen with the cathode catalyst layer and an increase in the amount of water at both the anode and cathode. Obut and Alper [37] presented a three-dimensional, non-isothermal and two-phase numerical model in a straight flow field channel to investigate the influence of cathode catalyst layer parameters such as catalyst layer thickness, ionomer film thickness, agglomerate size and porosity on the performance of a PEM fuel cell. Their results revealed how these catalyst layer parameters influence diffusion coefficients, electrical, and proton conductivities, and effectiveness factor determines the area specific power density and mass specific power density of the PEM fuel cell separately.…”

Section: Catalyst Layer Structure Parametersmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of recent development: Transport and performance modeling of PEM fuel cells

2016

Applied Energy

362

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Numerical assessment of dependence of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell performance on cathode catalyst layer parameters

Cited by 31 publications

References 42 publications

The Influence of Catalyst Layer Thickness on the Performance and Degradation of PEM Fuel Cell Cathodes with Constant Catalyst Loading

The Influence of Catalyst Layer Thickness on the Performance and Degradation of PEM Fuel Cell Cathodes with Constant Catalyst Loading

Modeling and Experimental Validation of Pt Loading and Electrode Composition Effects in PEM Fuel Cells

A review of recent development: Transport and performance modeling of PEM fuel cells

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