The Gas Diffusion Electrode Setup as Straightforward Testing Device for Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolyzer Catalysts

Schröder, Johanna; Mints, Vladislav A.; Bornet, Aline; Berner, Etienne; Tovini, Mohammad Fathi; Quinson, Jonathan; Wiberg, Gustav K. H.; Bizzotto, Francesco; El‐Sayed, Hany A.; Arenz, Matthias

doi:10.1021/jacsau.1c00015

Cited by 74 publications

(85 citation statements)

References 30 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This is mostly due to different mass transport conditions, but the electrolyte environment in PEMFCs is also considerably different than in RDE measurements. For this reason, several research groups developed experimental approaches for catalyst testing that aim to establish a second testing platform bridging RDE and MEAs; [7,8,[17][18][19][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] one of these platforms is the gas diffusion electrode (GDE) setup. As pointed out, the main motivation in developing GDE setups is to establish high reactant mass transport which is crucial for gaseous reactants such as oxygen [13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the electro-oxidation of small organic molecules: towards a fuel cell catalyst testing platform with realistic reaction environment

Zhang

Quinson

et al. 2021

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The electrocatalytic oxidation of small organic compounds such as methanol or formic acid has been the subject of numerous investigations in the last decades. The motivation for these studies is often their use as fuel in so-called direct methanol or direct formic acid fuel cells, promising alternatives to hydrogen-fueled proton exchange membrane fuel cells. The fundamental research spans from screening studies to identify the best performing catalyst materials to detailed mechanistic investigations of the reaction pathway. These investigations are commonly performed in standard three electrode electrochemical cells with a liquid supporting electrolyte to which the methanol or formic acid is added. In fuel cell devices, however, no liquid electrolyte will be present, instead membrane electrolytes are used. The question therefore arises, to which extend results from conventional electrochemical cells can be extrapolated to conditions found in fuel cells. We previously developed a gas diffusion electrode setup to mimic "real-life" reaction conditions and study electrocatalysts for oxygen gas reduction or water splitting. It is here demonstrated that the setup is also suitable to investigate the properties of catalysts for the electro-oxidation of small organic molecules. 2Using the gas diffusion electrode setup, it is seen that employing a catalyst -membrane electrolyte interface as compared to conventional electrochemical cells can lead to significantly different catalyst performances. Therefore, it is recommended to implement gas diffusion electrode setups for the investigation of the electro-oxidation of small organic molecules.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the electro-oxidation of small organic molecules: towards a fuel cell catalyst testing platform with realistic reaction environment

Zhang

Quinson

et al. 2021

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In that direction, such a noteworthy setup was recently presented for fuel cells 21 as well as proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer catalysts. 22 …”

Section: Electrocatalyst Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crossing the Valley of Death: From Fundamental to Applied Research in Electrolysis

Siegmund

Metz

Peinecke

et al. 2021

JACS Au

103

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The growing societal and political focus on the use of environmentally friendly technologies has led to an ever-increasing interest in electrolysis technologies in the scientific communities. This development is reflected by the plethora of candidate catalysts for the hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions, as well as the CO 2 reduction reaction, reported in the literature. However, almost none of them entered the stage of application yet. Likewise, the reports on process engineering inadequately address the utilization of these catalysts, as well as electrode and cell concepts, that might be suitable for the market. Evidently, a closer collaboration between chemists and engineers from industry and academia is desirable to speed up the development of these disruptive technologies. Herein, we elucidate the critical parameters and highlight the necessary aspects to accelerate the development of industrially relevant catalysts capable of fulfilling the forthcoming challenges related to energy conversion and storage. The aim of this Perspective, composed by industrial and academic partners, is to critically question current undertakings and to encourage researchers to strike interdisciplinary research pathways.

show abstract

“…At least 200 nanoparticle diameters were evaluated using the software ImageJ to evaluate the size distribution. The SEM-EDS cross-section measurements were performed as described before [18] using a Zeiss…”

Section: Transmission Electron Microscopy (Tem) and Scanning Electron Microscopy With Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (Sem-eds)mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Gas diffusion electrode setup as a testing platform for evaluating fuel cell catalysts: a comparative RDE-GDE study

Nösberger

Quinson

et al. 2021

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Gas diffusion electrode (GDE) setups have been recently introduced as a new experimental approach to test the performance of fuel cell catalysts. As compared to the state-of-the-art in fundamental research, i.e., rotating disk electrode (RDE) measurements, GDE measurements offer several advantages. Most importantly mass transport limitations, inherent to RDE measurements are avoided. In a GDE setup the reactant, e.g., oxygen gas, is not dissolved into a liquid electrolyte but distributed through a gas diffusion layer (GDL), as it is actually the case in fuel cells. Consequently, much higher current densities can be achieved, and the catalysts can be studied in a wider and more relevant potential range. Furthermore, direct contact to a liquid electrolyte can be avoided and elevated temperatures can be employed in a straight-forward manner. However, the use of GDE setups also comes with some challenges. The determined performance is not strictly related to the catalyst itself (intrinsic activity), but also to the quality of the catalyst film preparation. Therefore, it might be even more important than in RDE testing to develop standardized procedures to prepare catalysts inks and films that can be reproduced effortlessly in research laboratories for fundamental and applied experimentation. To develop such standardized testing protocols, we present a comparative RDE – GDE study, where we investigate several commercial standard Pt/C fuel cell catalysts with respect to the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The study highlights the strengths of the GDE approach as an intermediate “testing step” between RDE and membrane electrode assembly (MEA) tests when developing new fuel catalysts.

show abstract

The Gas Diffusion Electrode Setup as Straightforward Testing Device for Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolyzer Catalysts

Cited by 74 publications

References 30 publications

On the electro-oxidation of small organic molecules: towards a fuel cell catalyst testing platform with realistic reaction environment

On the electro-oxidation of small organic molecules: towards a fuel cell catalyst testing platform with realistic reaction environment

Crossing the Valley of Death: From Fundamental to Applied Research in Electrolysis

The Gas diffusion electrode setup as a testing platform for evaluating fuel cell catalysts: a comparative RDE-GDE study

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About