INVESTIGATION AND IMPROVEMENT OF CATALYST CORROSION IN PEM FUEL CELL

One of the current challenges for application of PEM fuel cells is the increment of their life time which is affected by corrosions occurred in various layers of PEMFC. Catalyst layers as the reaction heart of system are the most important parts. In this study, the performance of the electrocatalyst of fuel cell was investigated by using CV and LSV techniques. In addition, the effect of some variables such as the number of potential cycles, oxidizing agents, Pt loading and Nafion loading on durability of Pt/C catalyst were evaluated. The results demonstrate that the optimum performance of electrode occurs for Nafion content of 30 wt%, Pt loading of 0.5 mg/cm2 and presence of H2O2 as an oxidizing reagent.Kinetic parameters of corrosion such as Tafel slopes and properties of Pt/C catalyst like electrochemical surface area (ECSA) were obtained by fitting the experimental data with the theoretical equations

Keywords:

PEM Fuel Cell , Catalyst Corrosion , Nafion , Cyclic Voltammetry