Characterization and optimization of polymer electrolyte fuel cell electrodes

Experimental characterization and modeling were combined to find a procedure for optimizing the design of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) electrodes. The mass transfer and kinetic properties of the active layer used in electrodes fabricated at the Center for Electrochemical Systems and Hydrogen Research (CESHR) were characterized as a function of electrolyte polymer content Nafion®, DuPont, Fayetteville, NC) and catalyst loading for different types of platinum catalysts (E-Tek, Natick, MA). Expressions from limiting cases of the fuel cell model showed the combination of electrode materials for maximum current density at maximum catalyst utilization. Models describing the fuel cell behavior were selected and used to explain how different operating pressures affect the system power density and efficiency.; An “inert layer” method was developed to determine the effective proton conductivity of the active layer. A “buffer layer” method was developed to determine the oxygen diffusivity in the gas pores. A review of the literature and experiments at CESHR was used to determine the oxygen reduction activity of the active layer. Finally, a fitting method was developed to measure the agglomerate diffusivity from cell tests.; A PEMFC model demonstrated that operating the fuel cell pressurized can improve the power density at high currents because of oxygen mass transport. limitations in the substrate. However. as better electrode designs improve oxygen mass transfer, pressurized operation will lose this advantage. In addition, the model confirmed that oxygen enrichment systems require too much energy to separate oxygen from air to improve the net performance of a fuel cell.; From limiting approximations of the solutions of the differential material balances in the fuel cell model, a simple set of analytical expressions were derived that predict the optimum active layer thickness and maximum current density based on the materials of construction and operating conditions.; The procedure for experimental material characterization and analytical mathematical optimization developed in this work can now be used to find the optimum design of an electrode in a much shorter time and at a much lower cost than previous “design of experiments” type searches.