Enhanced oxygen reduction activity with rare earth metal alloy catalysts in proton exchange membrane fuel cellsShow others and affiliations
2021 (English)In: Electrochimica Acta, ISSN 0013-4686, E-ISSN 1873-3859, Vol. 387, article id 138454Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Alloying platinum is an approach to increase the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity and at the same time reduce the amount of precious platinum catalyst in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC). In this work the cathode activity of thin films of rare earth metals (REM) alloys, Pt 3 Y, Pt 5 Gd and Pt 5 Tb, produced by sputter deposition onto gas diffusion layers, are evaluated in a fuel cell by means of polarization curves in O 2 /H 2 , and cyclic- and CO-stripping voltammetry in N 2 /5% H 2 . Prior to evaluation, the model electrodes were acid-treated to obtain a Pt skin covering the PtREM alloy bulk, as was revealed by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The core shell alloys of Pt 3 Y and Pt 5 Gd catalysts show a specific activity enhancement at 0.9 V of 2.5 times compared to pure Pt. The slightly lower enhancement factor of 2.0 for Pt 5 Tb is concluded to be due to leaching of the REM, that resulted in a thicker, and subsequently less strained, Pt overlayer. The high activity, combined with the minor changes in surface composition, achieved in the fuel cell environment shows that PtREM core shell catalysts are promising for the cathode reaction in PEMFC.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier BV , 2021. Vol. 387, article id 138454
Keywords [en]
Proton exchange membrane fuel cell, Platinum rare earth metal alloy, Oxygen reduction reaction
National Category
Inorganic Chemistry
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-301999DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2021.138454ISI: 000691562600008Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85105823072OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-301999DiVA, id: diva2:1594821
Note
QC 20210916
2021-09-162021-09-162024-08-23Bibliographically approved