Chapter 2 - Catalysts for High-Temperature Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells

Abstract

Increasing the temperature of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) implies advantages and disadvantages in terms of material cost, performance, and degradation. Platinum (Pt) is the best catalytic material for high-temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (HT-PEMFC) electrodes, owing to the possibility it affords of minimizing CO poisoning with temperature enhancement. Nevertheless, it involves an increase in overall cost, mainly due to the larger platinum loadings used (when compared to Pt loadings for low-temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells). On the other hand, cathodic electrocatalysts still require that the kinetics of the sluggish oxygen reduction reaction be improved. Another disadvantage associated with the use of anodic and cathodic electrocatalysts is the corrosion of both carbon supports and catalytic nanoparticles, which is promoted by the increase in temperature. In this section, the most important factors affecting the performance of these materials are described and a brief description of the state of the art in the design and use of new materials in HT-PEMFCs is presented.