Current density maximization in palladium-based gas diffusion electrode in proton exchange membrane fuel cell

Abstract

In this study the influence of polymeric ionomer concentration on the performance of gas diffusion electrode containing Pd/C as a substitute for usual Pt/C electrodes in PEMFC was verified. Values between 56 and 59 % of ionomer related to the mass of the catalyst layer resulted in the highest current densities. It was found that the optimum value was strongly dependent on the work potential and temperature. Current density values of 214 mA.cm-2 were obtained at 500 mV, 85 °C and 1 atm for MEAs with Pd/C on both electrodes of PEMFC. With commercial Pt/C only on the cathode side, a value of 745 mA.cm-2 was reached. For comparison, platinum anodes running under the same conditions showed only 13.9 % higher performance than palladium, indicating that improvements in the synthesis method can enhance the performance for palladium getting to be similar to platinum on the hydrogen oxidation reaction. Indeed, these results proved that, from an economic point of view, it is feasible to apply palladium on anodes to replace platinum, although an adequate assessment of durability is still to be investigated.