Activity and Stability of Carbide Derived Carbon Supports in PEMFC Application

• Published in: ECS transactions Vol. 86; no. 13; pp. 507 - 517
• Main Authors: Sepp, Silver, Nerut, Jaak, Vaarmets, Kersti, Kanarbik, Rait, Tallo, Indrek, Lust, Enn
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: The Electrochemical Society, Inc 01.01.2018
• ISSN: 1938-5862; 1938-6737; 1938-6737; 1938-5862
• DOI: 10.1149/08613.0507ecst

Fuel cell electrodes were prepared from Pt-nanoclusters activated carbide derived carbon powders. These highly porous carbon materials were produced from Mo2C employing chlorine as extraction agent. Thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction, low temperature nitrogen sorption and high resolution scanning electron microscopy methods were used to characterize the structure of the electrode materials and membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs). The MEAs were fabricated by ultrasonic coating technique. The polarization and power density curves for single cells were calculated to evaluate the activity of the catalyst materials synthesized. The values of the electrolyte resistance, polarization resistance and cell degradation rate were calculated from electrochemical impedance spectroscopy data. The carbon material synthesized at 800 °C was found to be the suitable support for PEMFCs, having higher maximum power density values and better stability than commercial carbon (Vulcan XC72) based single cells.