Platinum Porous Electrodes for Fuel Cells:  with focus on Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs)

Fuel cell energy bears the merits of renewability, cleanness and high efficiency. Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) is one of the most promising candidates as the power source in the near future. A fine management of different transports and electrochemical reactions in PEM fuel cells is fundamental for the cell development, which is established on a sound understanding of the electrode structure and balance of protonic phase, electronic phase and gas phase.

The scope of the work includes:

•  Electrode components characterization: permeability; particle size and atomic lattice; surface area determination; morphology; oxidation state of components and stability.
•  Electrode composition investigation: optimization on ionomer content and electrode protonic conductivity.
•  Interaction between electrode components
•  Morphology of electrode surface and MEA cross section.

The above efforts all contribute to a genuine picture of a working PEM fuel cell catalyst layer. These, in turn, enrich the knowledge of Three-Phase-Boundary, provide efficient tool for the electrode selection and eventually will contribute the advancement of PEMFC technology.