Dynamic Simulation of Oxygen Reduction Reaction in Pt/C Electrode for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

Authors

LI Shang, State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Progressing, Hubei Fuel Cell Key Laboratory, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070,China;
ZHOU Fen, State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Progressing, Hubei Fuel Cell Key Laboratory, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070,China;
CHEN Lei, State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Progressing, Hubei Fuel Cell Key Laboratory, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070,China;
PAN Mu, State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Progressing, Hubei Fuel Cell Key Laboratory, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070,China;Follow

Corresponding Author

PAN Mu(panmu@whut.edu.cn)

Abstract

It is an urgent need to reduce the Pt loading in electrode for practical fuel cell applications worldwide. Herein, we theoretically investigate the oxygen distribution, generated current, and minimum Pt loading of Pt/C electrode for practical applications based on kinetic model of oxygen reduction reaction. The results indicate that with increasing electrode effective thickness to 40 mm, serious concentration polarization is expected for Pt/C electrode. To generate a power density of 1.4 W•cm^-2 (2.1A•cm^-2 @0.67 V) for fuel cell, the cathode catalyst layer thickness in PEMFC should be as thin as 3 mm. The minimum Pt loading will reach 0.122 mg•cm^-2, which can reduce the amount of Pt to 0.087 g•kW^-1 in PEMFC cathode.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords

Pt/C electrode, oxygen reduction, mass transport, Pt loading, fuel cell

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.13208/j.electrochem.151150

Publication Date

2016-04-28

Online Available Date

2016-03-07

Revised Date

2016-02-19

Received Date

2016-01-05

Recommended Citation

LI Shang, ZHOU Fen, CHEN Lei, PAN Mu. Dynamic Simulation of Oxygen Reduction Reaction in Pt/C Electrode for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells[J]. Journal of Electrochemistry, 2016 , 22(2): 129-134.
DOI: 10.13208/j.electrochem.151150
Available at: https://jelectrochem.xmu.edu.cn/journal/vol22/iss2/5