A Durable RuO2-Carbon-Supported Pt Catalyst for PEFCs: A Cause and Effect Study

Selvaganesh, Vinod S and Selvarani, G and Sridhar, P and Pitchumani, S and Shukla, AK (2012) A Durable RuO2-Carbon-Supported Pt Catalyst for PEFCs: A Cause and Effect Study. In: JOURNAL OF THE ELECTROCHEMICAL SOCIETY, 159 (5). B463-B470.

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Abstract

As Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells (PEFCs) are nearing the acceptable performance level for automotive and stationary applications, the focus on the research is shifting more and more toward enhancing their durability that still remains a major concern in their commercial acceptability. Hydrous ruthenium oxide (RuO2) is a promising material for pseudocapacitors due to its high stability, high specific-capacitance and rapid faradaic-reaction. Incorporation of carbon-supported RuO2 (RuO2/C) to platinum (Pt) is found to ameliorate both stability and catalytic activity of fuel cell cathodes that exhibit higher performance and durability in relation to Pt/C cathodes as evidenced by cell polarization, impedance and cyclic voltammetry data. The degradation in performance of Pt-RuO2/C cathodes is found to be only similar to 8% after 10000 accelerated stress test (AST) cycles as against similar to 60% for Pt/C cathodes after 7000 AST cycles under similar conditions. These data are in conformity with the Electrochemical Surface Area and impedance results. Interestingly, Pt-RuO2/C cathodes can withstand more than 10000 AST cycles with only a nominal loss in their performance. Studies on catalytic electrodes with X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and cross-sectional field-emission scanning electron microscopy reflect that incorporation of RuO2 to Pt helps mitigating aggregation of Pt particles and improves its stability during long-term operation of PEFCs. (C) 2012 The Electrochemical Society. DOI: 10.1149/2.jes113440] All rights reserved.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	JOURNAL OF THE ELECTROCHEMICAL SOCIETY
Publisher:	ELECTROCHEMICAL SOC INC
Additional Information:	Copyright for this article belongs to the Electrochemical Society
Department/Centre:	Division of Chemical Sciences > Solid State & Structural Chemistry Unit
Date Deposited:	11 Sep 2012 06:53
Last Modified:	11 Sep 2012 06:53
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/45021

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