Analysis of Pt/C electrode performance in a flowing-electrolyte alkaline fuel cell

Fikile R. Brushett; Matthew S. Naughton; Jia Wei Desmond Ng; Leilei Yin; Paul J.A. Kenis

doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2011.10.078

Analysis of Pt/C electrode performance in a flowing-electrolyte alkaline fuel cell

Fikile R. Brushett, Matthew S. Naughton, Jia Wei Desmond Ng, Leilei Yin, Paul J.A. Kenis

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

We characterize the performance of Pt/C-based electrodes under alkaline conditions using a microfluidic H₂/O₂ fuel cell as an analytical platform. Both anodes and cathodes were investigated as a function of electrode preparation procedures (i.e., hot pressing, acclimatization) and fuel cell operating parameters (i.e., electrolyte composition) via chronoamperometric and electrochemical impedance analyses. X-ray micro-computed tomography was employed to link electrode structure to performance. In addition, the flowing electrolyte stream is used to study the effects of carbonates on individual electrode and overall fuel cell performance. Our studies provide direct evidence that the performance of hydrogen-fueled room-temperature alkaline fuel cells (AFCs) is limited by transport processes to and from the anode primarily due to water formation. Furthermore, the presence of carbonate species in the electrolyte appears to impact only anode performance whereas cathode performance remains unchanged.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	2559-2570
Number of pages	12
Journal	International Journal of Hydrogen Energy
Volume	37
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2011.10.078
State	Published - Feb 2012

Keywords

Alkaline fuel cell
Carbonates
Electrode characterization
Microfluidic fuel cell
X-ray micro-computed tomography

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
Fuel Technology
Condensed Matter Physics
Energy Engineering and Power Technology

Online availability

10.1016/j.ijhydene.2011.10.078

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title = "Analysis of Pt/C electrode performance in a flowing-electrolyte alkaline fuel cell",

abstract = "We characterize the performance of Pt/C-based electrodes under alkaline conditions using a microfluidic H2/O2 fuel cell as an analytical platform. Both anodes and cathodes were investigated as a function of electrode preparation procedures (i.e., hot pressing, acclimatization) and fuel cell operating parameters (i.e., electrolyte composition) via chronoamperometric and electrochemical impedance analyses. X-ray micro-computed tomography was employed to link electrode structure to performance. In addition, the flowing electrolyte stream is used to study the effects of carbonates on individual electrode and overall fuel cell performance. Our studies provide direct evidence that the performance of hydrogen-fueled room-temperature alkaline fuel cells (AFCs) is limited by transport processes to and from the anode primarily due to water formation. Furthermore, the presence of carbonate species in the electrolyte appears to impact only anode performance whereas cathode performance remains unchanged.",

keywords = "Alkaline fuel cell, Carbonates, Electrode characterization, Microfluidic fuel cell, X-ray micro-computed tomography",

author = "Brushett, {Fikile R.} and Naughton, {Matthew S.} and Ng, {Jia Wei Desmond} and Leilei Yin and Kenis, {Paul J.A.}",

note = "Funding Information: We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the National Science Foundation (Career Grant CTS 05-47617 ), the Department of Energy (Grant DEFG02005ER46260 ), the Army Research Office (Grant W911NF-10-2-0054 ) and a GEM Fellowship for FRB. The MicroCT experiments were performed at in the Microscopy Suite of the Imaging Technology Group in the Beckman Institute. We acknowledge Darren Stevenson for his assistance performing the MicroCT analyses. We are grateful to Dr. Wei-Ping Zhou, Dr. John Haan, and Molly Jhong for stimulating discussions. We are also grateful to Joshua Tice and Sudipto Guha for help with preparing figures.",

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doi = "10.1016/j.ijhydene.2011.10.078",

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AU - Kenis, Paul J.A.

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Analysis of Pt/C electrode performance in a flowing-electrolyte alkaline fuel cell

Abstract

Keywords

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