Marc Ayoub , Rohit Rajendran Menon , Simon Thiele , Matthew Brodt
{"title":"A simple and effective catalyst recovery protocol for H2-PEMFCs","authors":"Marc Ayoub , Rohit Rajendran Menon , Simon Thiele , Matthew Brodt","doi":"10.1016/j.elecom.2025.107929","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Catalyst degradation in the cathode electrode for H<sub>2</sub>-PEM (hydrogen proton-exchange membrane) fuel cells is a crucial topic to tackle to achieve high durability and efficiency. Despite ongoing research, a concurrently fast, easy-to-adapt, and effective recovery protocol is still missing. In this study, we report a fast and easy-to-adapt recovery protocol that significantly mitigates the negative effects associated with catalyst degradation for the cathode electrode in H<sub>2</sub>-PEMFCs. Following accelerated stress tests (AST) of 30,000-cycles, membrane-electrode assemblies (MEAs) using our new recovery protocol exhibit remarkable higher end-of-life performance compared to similar MEAs subjected to the same AST but utilizing the DOE-defined recovery protocol. The end-of-life differences for the new recovery protocol are over 100 % increase in power density at 0.6 V and around 26 % increase at peak power density. By analyzing performance, the Tafel slope, the electrochemical surface area (ECSA), and impedance data, the improvements are traced back to better catalyst recovery and thus improved performance at end-of-life.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":304,"journal":{"name":"Electrochemistry Communications","volume":"176 ","pages":"Article 107929"},"PeriodicalIF":4.7000,"publicationDate":"2025-04-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Electrochemistry Communications","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1388248125000682","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ELECTROCHEMISTRY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Catalyst degradation in the cathode electrode for H2-PEM (hydrogen proton-exchange membrane) fuel cells is a crucial topic to tackle to achieve high durability and efficiency. Despite ongoing research, a concurrently fast, easy-to-adapt, and effective recovery protocol is still missing. In this study, we report a fast and easy-to-adapt recovery protocol that significantly mitigates the negative effects associated with catalyst degradation for the cathode electrode in H2-PEMFCs. Following accelerated stress tests (AST) of 30,000-cycles, membrane-electrode assemblies (MEAs) using our new recovery protocol exhibit remarkable higher end-of-life performance compared to similar MEAs subjected to the same AST but utilizing the DOE-defined recovery protocol. The end-of-life differences for the new recovery protocol are over 100 % increase in power density at 0.6 V and around 26 % increase at peak power density. By analyzing performance, the Tafel slope, the electrochemical surface area (ECSA), and impedance data, the improvements are traced back to better catalyst recovery and thus improved performance at end-of-life.
期刊介绍:
Electrochemistry Communications is an open access journal providing fast dissemination of short communications, full communications and mini reviews covering the whole field of electrochemistry which merit urgent publication. Short communications are limited to a maximum of 20,000 characters (including spaces) while full communications and mini reviews are limited to 25,000 characters (including spaces). Supplementary information is permitted for full communications and mini reviews but not for short communications. We aim to be the fastest journal in electrochemistry for these types of papers.