Effect of temperature on compact layer of Pt electrode in PEMFCs by first-principles molecular dynamics calculations

Abstract

Formation of the double-layer electric field and capacitance of the water-metal interface is of significant interest in physicochemical processes. In this study, we perform first- principles molecular dynamics simulations on the water/Pt(111) interface to investigate the temperature dependence of the compact layer electric field and capacitance based on the calculated charge densities. On the Pt (111) surface, water molecules form ice-like structures that exhibit more disorder along the height direction with increasing temperature. The OH bonds of more water molecules point toward the Pt surface to form PtH covalent bonds with increasing temperature, which weaken the corresponding OH bonds. In addition, our calculated capacitance at 300K is 15.2mF/cm2, which is in good agreement with the experimental results. As the temperature increases from 10 to 450K, the field strength and capacitance of the compact layer on Pt (111) first increase and then decrease slightly, which is significant for understanding the water/Pt interface from atomic level.