Influence of PtCu/C Catalysts Composition on Electrochemical Characteristics of Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell and Properties of Proton Exchange Membrane

• Main Authors: Irina Falina, Angelina Pavlets, Anastasia Alekseenko, Ekaterina Titskaya, Natalia Kononenko
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-08-01
• Series: Catalysts
• Subjects: proton exchange membrane fuel cell; bimetallic catalyst; contamination
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4344/11/9/1063
• ISSN: 2073-4344

The present work aimed to investigate the influence of “weakly bound“ copper dissolution from the surface of bimetallic PtCu_x/C catalysts on the properties of proton exchange membrane and the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) in general. A number of PtCu_x/C materials have been obtained by the simultaneous reduction in copper and platinum precursors in the course of liquid-phase synthesis with a varying ratio of metals from PtCu_2.0/C to PtCu_0.3/C. All bimetallic PtCu_x/C electrocatalysts after the activation stage exhibit high activity in the oxygen electroreduction reaction. The PtCu_x/C catalysts in “as prepared” state were tested in MEA. The increase in Cu content in PtCu_x/C catalysts led to a decrease in current density of MEA while its resistance was almost independent of the Cu fraction in the catalyst. The membrane saturation degree by Cu²⁺-ions after MEA testing did not exceed 40%, even in the case of the PtCu_2.0/C material. The main reason for the degradation of membrane electrode assembly with PtCu_x/C materials is the transport limitation caused by the contamination of Nafion in three catalytic layer by “weakly bound” copper ions.