Monica Dutta

Investigating the effects of proton exchange membrane fuel cell conditions on carbon supported platinum electrocatalyst composition and performance

Changes that carbon-supported platinum electrocatalysts undergo in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell environment were simulated by ex situ heat treatment of catalyst powder samples at 150 C and 100% relative humidity. In order to study modifications that are introduced to chemistry, morphology, and performance of electrocatalysts, XPS, HREELS and three-electrode rotating disk electrode experiments were performed. Before heat treatment, graphitic content varied by 20% among samples with different types of carbon supports, with distinct differences between bulk and surface compositions within each sample. Following the aging protocol, the bulk and surface chemistry of the samples were similar, with graphite content increasing or remaining constant and Pt-carbide decreasing for all samples. From the correlation of changes in chemical composition and losses in performance of the electrocatalysts, we conclude that relative distribution of Pt particles on graphitic and amorphous carbon is as important for electrocatalytic activity as the absolute amount of graphitic carbon present

Structural and Morphological Properties of Carbon Supports: Effect on Catalyst Degradation

The object of this work was to identify correlations between performance losses of Pt electrocatalysts on carbon support materials and the chemical and morphological parameters that describe them. Accelerated stress testing, with an upper potential of 1.2 V, was used to monitor changes to cathode properties, including kinetic performance and effective platinum surface area losses. The structure and chemical compositions were studied using X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy coupled with Digital Image Processing. As this is an ongoing study, it is difficult to draw firm conclusions, though a trend between support surface area overall performance loss was found to exist.

Effect of Graphitic Content on Carbon Supported Catalyst Performance

The effect of graphitic content on carbon supported platinum catalysts was investigated in order to investigate its influence on catalyst performance. Four catalysts of varying surface areas and graphitic content were analyzed using XPS, HREELS, and tested using RDE experiments. The catalysts were also heat treated at 150 C and 100%RH as means to uniformly age them. The heat treated samples were analyzed using the same methods to determine what changes had occurred due to this aging process. When compared to the BOL catalysts, heat treated catalysts displayed increased graphitic carbon and platinum metallic content, however they also showed depressed catalytic activity. The primary cause is still under investigation, though it is believed to be related to loss of amorphous carbon content.

Quantification of Material Property Changes During Electrode Degradation in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells Using X-ray Computed Tomography

Recent developments in lab-based X-ray Computed Tomography (XCT) systems has provided the ability to obtain non-destructive 3-dimensional imaging in numerous research fields, such as geology, materials science, and biomedical imaging [ 1]. A unique and prevalent application of this technique is to acquire a set of topographies at different experimental stages to assess any dynamic changes and obtain 4-dimensional imaging of a system under study [ 2]. This methodology is well suited for the study of polymer electrolyte fuel cell systems where detailed imaging of the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) can be obtained while it is still assembled in its operational housing [ 3].