Enhancing membrane electrode assembly (MEA) performance is an ongoing pursuit in the drive to meet the increasing demand for fuel cell technology. In the present study, we utilize carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as porosity enhancers and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) as a surface modulating agent to develop a high-performance MEA with a more porous structure and greater hydrophobicity. By systematically investigating the effects of adding CNTs and PTFE, we find that the CNTs not only increase the porosity of the cathode catalyst layer (CCL) but also boost the utilization of the platinum(Pt) catalyst by increasing the exposure of Pt active sites and lowering the charge transfer resistance, due to CNTs’ superior electronic conductivity compared with carbon black. The hydrophobicity of the CCL is adjusted by adding an appropriate amount of PTFE, resulting in much better water management. The best-performing MEA contains 15 wt% CNTs and 30 wt% PTFE in the CCL. At voltages of 0.7 and 0.6 V, the discharge current densities reach 1000 and 1550 mA cm−2, respectively, with a maximum power density of 949 mW cm−2, compared to 750 and 1200 mA cm−2 and 789 mW cm−2 using a MEA without CNTs and PTFE. Our optimized MEA also exhibits significantly improved performance at low backpressure due to the increase in CCL porosity.
Reference:
Chi, B., et al. 2019. Enhancing membrane electrode assembly performance by improving the porous structure and hydrophobicity of the cathode catalyst layer. Journal of Power Sources, vol 443(15):1-7
Chi, B., Ye, Y., Lu, X., Jiang, S., Du, L., Zeng, J., ... Liao, S. (2019). Enhancing membrane electrode assembly performance by improving the porous structure and hydrophobicity of the cathode catalyst layer. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/11215
Chi, B, Y Ye, X Lu, S Jiang, L Du, J Zeng, Jianwei Ren, and S Liao "Enhancing membrane electrode assembly performance by improving the porous structure and hydrophobicity of the cathode catalyst layer." (2019) http://hdl.handle.net/10204/11215
Chi B, Ye Y, Lu X, Jiang S, Du L, Zeng J, et al. Enhancing membrane electrode assembly performance by improving the porous structure and hydrophobicity of the cathode catalyst layer. 2019; http://hdl.handle.net/10204/11215.
Copyright: 2019 Elsevier. Due to copyright restrictions, the attached PDF file contains the abstract version of the full-text item. For access to the full-text item, please consult the publisher's website. The definitive version of the work is published in Journal of Power Sources, vol 443(15):1-7