Suppressing methanol crossover with a deposited quaternary Pt-based catalyst on the Nafion surface

A Pt49–Ru35–Ir6–Os10 alloy layer is deposited on the Nafion membrane surface using the impregnation-reduction (IR) method to mitigate methanol crossover. The methanol crossover in a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) with a deposited Pt–Ru–Ir–Os layer is compared with a MEA without any layer on the p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of hydrogen energy 2014-02, Vol.39 (6), p.2516-2525
Main Authors: Wan, Chieh-Hao, Lin, Meng-Tsun, Lin, Chien-Heng, Su, Bing-Jian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alternative fuels. Production and utilization
Applied sciences
Catalytic activity
Crossovers
Deposition
Electric potential
Electrodes
Energy
Exact sciences and technology
Fuels
Hydrogen
Impregnation-reduction method
Layer density
Membranes
Methanol crossover
Methyl alcohol
Platinum
Quaternary Pt-based catalyst
Voltage
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Summary:A Pt49–Ru35–Ir6–Os10 alloy layer is deposited on the Nafion membrane surface using the impregnation-reduction (IR) method to mitigate methanol crossover. The methanol crossover in a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) with a deposited Pt–Ru–Ir–Os layer is compared with a MEA without any layer on the proton exchange membrane (PEM). The deposited Pt49–Ru35–Ir6–Os10 layer functions like a catalytically active layer, a methanol barrier, and an electrode all at the same time. This layer yields up to a 30% suppression of methanol crossover and a 15% improvement in fuel cell voltage performance (@170 mA cm−2) at 80 °C. The porous metal alloy layer with a high surface area of the Pt–Ru layer suppresses methanol crossover by the catalytic activity of the deposited layer. The presence of the solid Pt49–Ru35–Ir6–Os10 layer on the Nafion membrane surface reduces the proton conductivity of the PEM (from 10.75 to 4.22 mS cm−1), and degrades the output of the cell voltage performance (from 0.350 to 0.335 V at 90 mA cm−2 of current density) at 60 °C, even though methanol crossover is reduced (from 6928 ppm to 4415 ppm (CO2 concentration at cathode exhaust is proportional to methanol crossover)). •A layer of Pt49–Ru35–Ir6–Os10 alloy is deposited on the Nafion surface.•This layer acts as a catalytically layer and a methanol barrier.•It mitigates methanol crossover by 30% and improve voltage by 15% (@ 170  mA cm−2).•The effects of catalytic activity and microstructure of the deposited layer is studied.•The results are compared with deposited Pt52–Ru48 layer.
ISSN:0360-3199
1879-3487
DOI:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2013.12.019