고분자 전해질 연료전지용 수소극 촉매층의 이오노머 함량 영향

• Published in: 한국수소 및 신에너지학회 논문집 Vol. 30; no. 6; pp. 523 - 530
• Main Authors: 박범준(BEOMJUN PAK), 이선호(SEONHO LEE), 우승희(SEUNGHEE WOO), 박석희(SEOK-HEE PARK), 정남기(NAMGEE JUNG), 임성대(SUNG-DAE YIM)
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Korean
• Published: 한국수소및신에너지학회 2019
• Subjects: 기계공학; MEA(막전극접합체); Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell(고분자전해질연료전지); Anode catalyst layer(수소극 촉매층); Ionomer content(이오노머 함량); Hydrogen oxidation reaction(수소산화반응)
• ISSN: 1738-7264; 2288-7407

For the low-Pt electrodes for polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEMFCs), the optimization of ionomer content for anode catalyst layers was carried out. A commercial catalyst of 20 wt.% Pt/C was used instead of 50 wt.% Pt/C which is commonly used for PEMFCs. The ionomer content varies from 0.6 to 1.2 based on ionomer to carbon ratio (I/C) and the catalyst layer is formed over the electrolyte by the ultrasonic spray process. Evaluation of the prepared MEA in the unit cell showed that the optimal ionomer content of the air electrode was 0.8 on the I/C basis, while the hydrogen electrode was optimal at the relatively high ionomer content of 1.0. In addition, a large difference in cell performance was observed when the ionomer content of the hydrogen electrode was changed. Increasing the ionomer content from 0.6 to 1.0 by I/C in a hydrogen electrode with 0.05 mg/㎠ platinum loading resulted in more than double cell performance improvements on a 0.6 V. Through the analysis of various electrochemical properties in the single cell, it was assumed that the change in ionomer content of the hydrogen electrode affects the water flow between the hydrogen and air electrodes bounded by the membrane in the cell, which affects the overall performance of the cell. A more specific study will be carried out to understand the water flow mechanism in the future, and this study will show that the optimization process of hydrogen electrode can also be a very important cell design variable for the low-Pt and high-performance MEA.