Low Pt loading amorphous alloys applied as anodes and the effect of different proton exchange membranes for PEMFCS

摘要

In this work low-loaded platinum bi-metallic amorphous alloys based on Ni_(59)Nb_(40)Pt_(0.6)X_(0.4) (X = Ru, Sn) were studied as electro-catalytic anodes in PEMFCs. The electro-catalysts were produced by Mechanical Alloying (MA) using a planetary ball-mill during 40 h and used as anodes onto Nafion~® (DuPont) perfluorinated membranes (Nafion~® 117, Nafion~® 115 and Nafion~® XL). In addition, two active areas of fuel cells were used namely 9 and 25 cm~2. These electro-catalysts were characterized by both physical and chemical techniques, such as Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX). Concerning the performance towards the Hydrogen Oxidation Reaction (HOR), the results showed that 25 cm~2 of active area of fuel cell with Ni_(59)Nb_(40)Pt_(0.6)X_(0.4) alloy and the Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA) based on the Nafion~® 115 membrane exhibited the best catalytic activity (2083.59 A g~(-1) Pt), while for the Ni_(59)Nb_(40)Pt_(0.6)X_(0.4) catalyst the Nafion~® XL membrane was more suitable (1570.82 A g~(-1) Pt).