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Bottom-Up Fabrication of Oxygen Reduction Electrodes with Atomic Layer Deposition for High-Power-Density PEMFCs

Abstract

As the platinum (Pt) loading in proton exchange membrane fuel cell cathodes is driven down to reduce costs, catalyst utilization becomes increasingly important. Here, we report an atomic layer deposition-facilitated electrode fabrication technique designed to improve the catalyst-ionomer interface. The ionomer solvent environment and carbon support nanoporosity are studied independently, and it is found that the combination of an agglomerated ionomer dispersion and a mesoporous support gives access to a high catalytic activity (mass activity [MA] = 0.31 A/mgPt with pure Pt) that can be maintained at high current densities. We hypothesize that the formulation results in Pt sufficiently withdrawn from the ionomer such that poisoning and transport losses are reduced. When paired with a low-resistance dispersion-cast membrane, a 0.1-mgPt/cm2 cathode can deliver a 0.65-V power density of 1.0 W/cm2 at 150 kPa and 80°C. The assembly also demonstrates impressive durability, losing only 33 mV after 30,000 cycles.
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Category

Academic article

Language

English

Author(s)

  • Sam Dull
  • Shicheng Xu
  • Timothy Goh
  • Dong Un Lee
  • Drew Higgins
  • Marat Orazov
  • David Koshy
  • Per Erik Vullum
  • Sebastian Kirsch
  • Gerold Huebner
  • Jan Torgersen
  • Thomas F Jaramillo
  • Friedrich Prinz

Affiliation

  • SINTEF Industry / Materials and Nanotechnology
  • Germany
  • Norwegian University of Science and Technology
  • McMaster University
  • Stanford University
  • University of Delaware
  • SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Date

20.01.2021

Year

2021

Published in

Cell Reports Physical Science

Volume

2

Issue

1

View this publication at Norwegian Research Information Repository