Anode materials for mitigating hydrogen starvation effects in PEM fuel cells

Ion C. Halalay; Swathy Swathirajan; Belabbes Merzougui; Michael P. Balogh; Gregory C. Garabedian; Michael K. Carpenter

doi:10.1149/1.3530796

Anode materials for mitigating hydrogen starvation effects in PEM fuel cells

Ion C. Halalay, Swathy Swathirajan, Belabbes Merzougui, Michael P. Balogh, Gregory C. Garabedian, Michael K. Carpenter

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

15 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Localized hydrogen starvation at a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell anode can lead to the formation of local cells in the membrane electrode assembly, which cause performance degradation at the fuel cell cathode due to carbon corrosion. We propose using hydrogen spillover materials as a hydrogen reservoir in the fuel cell anode in order to compensate for any temporary proton deficit caused by local flooding of the anode channels. We tested composite electrodes containing Ti O₂, W Si₂, and W O₃, and compared their behavior to that of commercial Pt/Vulcan XC-72 carbon (Pt/Vu) benchmark catalysts, using gas-diffusion electrodes in a 0.1 M HCl O ₄ solution and pellet electrodes in a 0.5 M H₂ S O ₄ solution. While Ti O₂ yields no benefits, both W Si ₂ and W O₃ can significantly delay the voltage excursion of the gas-diffusion electrode into the oxygen evolution region upon the cessation of hydrogen flow. X-ray data indicate that the beneficial effect of W Si₂ may be caused by W O₃, because we observed conversion of W Si₂ to W O₃ during voltage cycling, without a significant loss in the apparent hydrogen adsorption-desorption area. Electrodes with W O₃ yielded the best results, with a hydrogen storage charge higher by a factor of 6 than for the Pt/Vu benchmark.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	B313-B321
Journal	Journal of the Electrochemical Society
Volume	158
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1149/1.3530796
Publication status	Published - 8 Feb 2011

Fingerprint

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
Surfaces, Coatings and Films
Electrochemistry
Materials Chemistry

Cite this

Halalay, I. C., Swathirajan, S., Merzougui, B., Balogh, M. P., Garabedian, G. C., & Carpenter, M. K. (2011). Anode materials for mitigating hydrogen starvation effects in PEM fuel cells. Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 158(3), B313-B321. https://doi.org/10.1149/1.3530796

@article{f29c09ae2bfb4d8389a639a642d73216,

title = "Anode materials for mitigating hydrogen starvation effects in PEM fuel cells",

abstract = "Localized hydrogen starvation at a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell anode can lead to the formation of local cells in the membrane electrode assembly, which cause performance degradation at the fuel cell cathode due to carbon corrosion. We propose using hydrogen spillover materials as a hydrogen reservoir in the fuel cell anode in order to compensate for any temporary proton deficit caused by local flooding of the anode channels. We tested composite electrodes containing Ti O2, W Si2, and W O3, and compared their behavior to that of commercial Pt/Vulcan XC-72 carbon (Pt/Vu) benchmark catalysts, using gas-diffusion electrodes in a 0.1 M HCl O 4 solution and pellet electrodes in a 0.5 M H2 S O 4 solution. While Ti O2 yields no benefits, both W Si 2 and W O3 can significantly delay the voltage excursion of the gas-diffusion electrode into the oxygen evolution region upon the cessation of hydrogen flow. X-ray data indicate that the beneficial effect of W Si2 may be caused by W O3, because we observed conversion of W Si2 to W O3 during voltage cycling, without a significant loss in the apparent hydrogen adsorption-desorption area. Electrodes with W O3 yielded the best results, with a hydrogen storage charge higher by a factor of 6 than for the Pt/Vu benchmark.",

author = "Halalay, {Ion C.} and Swathy Swathirajan and Belabbes Merzougui and Balogh, {Michael P.} and Garabedian, {Gregory C.} and Carpenter, {Michael K.}",

year = "2011",

month = feb,

day = "8",

doi = "10.1149/1.3530796",

language = "English",

volume = "158",

pages = "B313--B321",

journal = "Journal of the Electrochemical Society",

issn = "0013-4651",

publisher = "Electrochemical Society, Inc.",

number = "3",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Anode materials for mitigating hydrogen starvation effects in PEM fuel cells

AU - Halalay, Ion C.

AU - Swathirajan, Swathy

AU - Merzougui, Belabbes

AU - Balogh, Michael P.

AU - Garabedian, Gregory C.

AU - Carpenter, Michael K.

PY - 2011/2/8

Y1 - 2011/2/8

N2 - Localized hydrogen starvation at a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell anode can lead to the formation of local cells in the membrane electrode assembly, which cause performance degradation at the fuel cell cathode due to carbon corrosion. We propose using hydrogen spillover materials as a hydrogen reservoir in the fuel cell anode in order to compensate for any temporary proton deficit caused by local flooding of the anode channels. We tested composite electrodes containing Ti O2, W Si2, and W O3, and compared their behavior to that of commercial Pt/Vulcan XC-72 carbon (Pt/Vu) benchmark catalysts, using gas-diffusion electrodes in a 0.1 M HCl O 4 solution and pellet electrodes in a 0.5 M H2 S O 4 solution. While Ti O2 yields no benefits, both W Si 2 and W O3 can significantly delay the voltage excursion of the gas-diffusion electrode into the oxygen evolution region upon the cessation of hydrogen flow. X-ray data indicate that the beneficial effect of W Si2 may be caused by W O3, because we observed conversion of W Si2 to W O3 during voltage cycling, without a significant loss in the apparent hydrogen adsorption-desorption area. Electrodes with W O3 yielded the best results, with a hydrogen storage charge higher by a factor of 6 than for the Pt/Vu benchmark.

AB - Localized hydrogen starvation at a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell anode can lead to the formation of local cells in the membrane electrode assembly, which cause performance degradation at the fuel cell cathode due to carbon corrosion. We propose using hydrogen spillover materials as a hydrogen reservoir in the fuel cell anode in order to compensate for any temporary proton deficit caused by local flooding of the anode channels. We tested composite electrodes containing Ti O2, W Si2, and W O3, and compared their behavior to that of commercial Pt/Vulcan XC-72 carbon (Pt/Vu) benchmark catalysts, using gas-diffusion electrodes in a 0.1 M HCl O 4 solution and pellet electrodes in a 0.5 M H2 S O 4 solution. While Ti O2 yields no benefits, both W Si 2 and W O3 can significantly delay the voltage excursion of the gas-diffusion electrode into the oxygen evolution region upon the cessation of hydrogen flow. X-ray data indicate that the beneficial effect of W Si2 may be caused by W O3, because we observed conversion of W Si2 to W O3 during voltage cycling, without a significant loss in the apparent hydrogen adsorption-desorption area. Electrodes with W O3 yielded the best results, with a hydrogen storage charge higher by a factor of 6 than for the Pt/Vu benchmark.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79551598110&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=79551598110&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1149/1.3530796

DO - 10.1149/1.3530796

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:79551598110

VL - 158

SP - B313-B321

JO - Journal of the Electrochemical Society

JF - Journal of the Electrochemical Society

SN - 0013-4651

IS - 3

ER -

Access to Document

10.1149/1.3530796