Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society (한국수소및신에너지학회논문집)

The Korean Hydrogen and New Energy Society (한국수소및신에너지학회)
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Effect of Ionomer Content on the Anode Catalyst Layers of PEM Fuel Cells

고분자 전해질 연료전지용 수소극 촉매층의 이오노머 함량 영향

  • PAK, BEOMJUN (Fuel Cell laboratory, Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER)) ;
  • LEE, SEONHO (Fuel Cell laboratory, Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER)) ;
  • WOO, SEUNGHEE (Fuel Cell laboratory, Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER)) ;
  • PARK, SEOK-HEE (Fuel Cell laboratory, Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER)) ;
  • JUNG, NAMGEE (Energy Science and Technology, Chungnam National University) ;
  • YIM, SUNG-DAE (Fuel Cell laboratory, Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER))
  • 박범준 (한국에너지기술 연구원 연료전지 연구실) ;
  • 이선호 (한국에너지기술 연구원 연료전지 연구실) ;
  • 우승희 (한국에너지기술 연구원 연료전지 연구실) ;
  • 박석희 (한국에너지기술 연구원 연료전지 연구실) ;
  • 정남기 (충남대학교 에너지과학기술대학원) ;
  • 임성대 (한국에너지기술 연구원 연료전지 연구실)
  • Received : 2019.10.08
  • Accepted : 2019.12.30
  • Published : 2019.12.30
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Abstract

For the low-Pt electrodes for polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEMFCs), the optimization of ionomer content for anode catalyst layers was carried out. A commercial catalyst of 20 wt.% Pt/C was used instead of 50 wt.% Pt/C which is commonly used for PEMFCs. The ionomer content varies from 0.6 to 1.2 based on ionomer to carbon ratio (I/C) and the catalyst layer is formed over the electrolyte by the ultrasonic spray process. Evaluation of the prepared MEA in the unit cell showed that the optimal ionomer content of the air electrode was 0.8 on the I/C basis, while the hydrogen electrode was optimal at the relatively high ionomer content of 1.0. In addition, a large difference in cell performance was observed when the ionomer content of the hydrogen electrode was changed. Increasing the ionomer content from 0.6 to 1.0 by I/C in a hydrogen electrode with 0.05 mg/㎠ platinum loading resulted in more than double cell performance improvements on a 0.6 V. Through the analysis of various electrochemical properties in the single cell, it was assumed that the change in ionomer content of the hydrogen electrode affects the water flow between the hydrogen and air electrodes bounded by the membrane in the cell, which affects the overall performance of the cell. A more specific study will be carried out to understand the water flow mechanism in the future, and this study will show that the optimization process of hydrogen electrode can also be a very important cell design variable for the low-Pt and high-performance MEA.

Keywords

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