Effects of Supports BET Surface Areas on Membrane Electrode Assembly Performance at High Current Loads

Abstract

In this work, we investigated the influence of catalyst supports, particularly Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller (BET) surface area of the catalyst support materials, on membrane electrode assembly (MEA) performance. Keeping the anode catalyst layer (CL), membrane, Pt loading, and operating condition unchanged, we prepared cathode CLs using catalysts of identical Pt content (30 wt% Pt) which were supported on carbon black materials having different BET surface areas. We observed optimum cell voltage at high current load when using cathode catalyst layers prepared from catalysts supported on carbons having medium-BET surface area. High-BET surface area supports, although beneficial at low current density as well as low-BET surface area supports, led to increased voltage losses at high current load due to mass transport limitations which can be explained by the electrochemically active surface area available and water management in the catalyst layer.

Recent Advancements in the Synthesis and Application of Carbon-Based Catalysts in the ORR

“…Their research showed evidence that, at low current loads, high surface area supports performed best, as expected. The unexpected result was that, at high current loads, medium surface area materials (200 m 2 g −1 ) showed better performance due to mass transport losses and water accumulation in the smaller pores of the high surface area materials [94].…”

“…Zhang et al [90] created a chitosan-based carbon catalyst with an extremely high surface area of 1190 m 2 g −1 , which showed excellent activity toward ORR. Interestingly, Mohanta et al [94] investigated the effect of carbon catalyst support surface area at different current loads and discovered that the surface area may require tailoring to the specific conditions of the fuel cell. Their research showed evidence that, at low current loads, high surface area supports performed best, as expected.…”

Influence of Cathode Catalyst Layer with SiO2-Coated Pt/Ketjen Black Catalysts on Performance for Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells

“…Recently, porous carbons such as Ketjen black, porous carbon nanofiber, and high surface carbon have been widely used and investigate as a support of Pt catalysts because of their high surface area and inside pores. It can be lead to high Pt dispersion on the carbon supports, resulting in improved ORR activity and durability [13][14][15][16][17]. In this study, we investigated the influence of SiO 2 -coated Pt catalysts on cell performance when Ketjen black, known as one of the porous carbons, was used as a support for cathode catalysts.…”