CO-Tolerant Pt–BeO as a Novel Anode Electrocatalyst in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

Abstract

Commercialization of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) requires less expensive catalysts and higher operating voltage. Substantial anodic overvoltage with the usage of reformed hydrogen fuel can be minimized by using CO-tolerant anode catalysts. Carbon-supported Pt-BeO is manufactured so that Pt particles with an average diameter of 4 nm are distributed on a carbon support. XPS analysis shows that a peak value of the binding energy of Be matches that of BeO, and oxygen is bound with Be or carbon. The hydrogen oxidation current of the Pt-BeO catalyst is slightly higher than that of a Pt catalyst. CO stripping voltammetry shows that CO oxidation current peaks at~0.85 V at Pt, whereas CO is oxidized around 0.75 V at Pt-BeO, which confirms that the desorption of CO is easier in the presence of BeO. Although the state-of-the-art PtRu anode catalyst is dominant as a CO-tolerant hydrogen oxidation catalyst, this study of Be-based CO-tolerant material can widen the choice of PEMFC anode catalyst.

Preparation and Characterization of Stable and Active Pt@TiO2 Core–Shell Nanoparticles as Electrocatalyst for Application in PEMFCs

“…Nevertheless, even the highest ECSA of 8.5 m 2 g −1 for the bare Pt NPs is actually very low compared to what is commonly encountered in literature of about a minimum of 30 m 2 g −1 for good performing Pt-based electrocatalysts. An example is the work of Kwon et al, 42 where carbon-supported Pt had an ECSA of 91 m 2 g −1 and a BET SA of 180 m 2 g −1 , while a carbon-supported Pt−2.3BeO (Pt on BeO in a weight ratio of 1:2.3, on carbon) had an ECSA of 39 m 2 g −1 and a BET SA of 79 m 2 g −1 . Thus, we attribute the low values of our electrocatalyst NPs to the lack of a support material that is known to greatly enhance the ECSA of electrocatalysts NPs, by promoting uniform distribution of the NPs and at the same time preventing clustering and/or aggregation of the NPs.…”

Electrochemical hydrogen compression and purification versus competing technologies: Part II. Challenges in electrocatalysis

“…Without changing platinum properties, it is also possible to enhance CO oxidation by changing the supporting material. Replacing carbon black with metal oxides such as RuOx, WOx, SnOx, MoOx or FeOx [124][125][126][127][128][129], proved to create electrocatalysts with performance sometimes better than for PtRu. Pt/WO3 for example, despite its poor stability, proved to free part of the Pt sites as soon as E = 0.1 V vs RHE (Fig.…”

Activity and Stability of Dispersed Multi Metallic Pt-based Catalysts for CO Tolerance in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Anodes

“…In general, the catalysts e m p l o y e d in H 2 / O 2 fuel cell anodes are largely composed of nanoparticles of PtM bimetals (where M=transition metal), such as PtMo, PtRu, PtW, PtRh, etc. (Hassan et al 2014a, Pereira et al 2006, 2009, Santiago et al 2003, with the PtMo giving the best catalytic performance, when the PEMFC single cell anode is supplied with H 2 containing CO. Other more recently investigated materials are Pt 3 Co, Pt/FeOx and Pt/BeO (Liu et al 2016, Kwon et al 2016, Zhang et al 2017. Earliest works involving the use of PtMo alloys were made in the end of the 1990 by Grgur et al (1997Grgur et al ( , 1998.…”