Gas Diffusion Electrode Half Cells – a Powerful Tool for Fuel Cell Electrocatalyst Evaluation in Relevant Conditions
Authors: Ehelebe Konrad , Cherevko Serhiy 
Published: July 2021

In aqueous rotating disk electrode (RDE) measurements, advanced catalyst materials show tremendous performance improvements in comparison to commercial Pt/C catalysts towards oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). However, these promising improvements cannot (yet) be transferred to realistic membrane electrode assembly (MEA). [1] These discrepancies can be explained by non-ideal catalyst layer composition, leading to mass transport limitations of either oxygen (which is transported through the pores) or protons (via the ionomer) to the active centers of the catalyst material. Mass transport phenomena in real catalyst layers are still under debate and hold huge potential to significantly improve catalyst performance.

However, mass transport in realistic fuel cell catalyst layers cannot be assessed with RDE experiments, as they are limited to low current densities and idealized catalyst layers on solid substrate. Therefore, MEA experiments are usually employed to evaluate those phenomena. Yet, those investigations are time consuming, expensive (large quantities of catalyst needed, extended test equipment) and do not allow segregated investigation of either cathode or anode catalyst layer. Furthermore, comparison of different MEA studies can be challenging due to varying operating conditions. Therefore, techniques combining the advantages of RDE, namely simplicity and comparability, with the realistic operating ranges of MEA are urgently required to retrieve the potential of catalyst layer optimization.

In this presentation half-cells using gas diffusion electrodes (GDE) are proposed as a new powerful experimental tool to enable high mass transport catalyst screening in relevant potential ranges and realistic electrode structures.

On the example of a Pt loading study we show, that current densities of up to 2 A/cm² can be achieved [2]. In contrary to other formerly used methods [3], it is thereby possible to overcome mass transport limitations at relevant fuel cell operating potentials. Additionally, we demonstrate good compliance with MEA experiments, proving the method´s suitability for catalyst evaluation in realistic fuel cell potential ranges.

Besides activity, also stability of the electrocatalyst is affected significantly by the catalyst layer structure. We present here a novel method, where a GDE half-cell is coupled to an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) to gain deeper insights into dissolution of electrocatalysts in realistic electrode structures [4]. With this unique online tool, we could measure Pt dissolution in realistic catalyst layers for the first time reported in literature. We show, how mass transport of dissolved Pt species influences net Pt dissolution and how Pt dissolution can also be detected through Nafion membranes. Besides that, also the mobility of Pt-ions through Nafion membranes is further investigated.

Literature

[1] Ly, A., et al. J. Power Sources, 2020. 478: 228516

[2] Ehelebe, K., et al., J. Electrochem. Soc., 2019. 166(16): F1259-F1268,

[3] Inaba, M., et al., Energy Environm. Sci., 2018. 11(4): 988-994,

[4] Ehelebe, K. et al. submitted

Figure 1