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Modifying the Electrocatalyst-Ionomer Interface via Sulfonated Poly(ionic liquid) Block Copolymers to Enable High-Performance Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells
Journal article   Open access

Modifying the Electrocatalyst-Ionomer Interface via Sulfonated Poly(ionic liquid) Block Copolymers to Enable High-Performance Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells

Yawei Li, Tim Van Cleve, Rui Sun, Ramchandra Gawas, Guanxiong Wang, Maureen Tang, Yossef A. Elabd, Joshua Snyder, K. C. Neyerlin and National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
ACS energy letters, v 5(6), pp 1726-1731
12 Jun 2020
url
url
https://doi.org/10.1021/acsenergylett.0c00532View
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Open

Abstract

Chemistry Chemistry, Physical Electrochemistry Energy & Fuels Materials Science Materials Science, Multidisciplinary Nanoscience & Nanotechnology Physical Sciences Science & Technology Science & Technology - Other Topics Technology
Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) electrodes with a 0.07 mg(Pt) cm(-2) Pt/Vulcan electrocatalyst loading, containing only a sulfonated poly(ionic liquid) block copolymer (SPILBCP) ionomer, were fabricated and achieved a ca. 2x enhancement of kinetic performance through the suppression of Pt surface oxidation. However, SPILBCP electrodes lost over 70% of their electrochemical active area at 30% RH because of poor ionomer network connectivity. To combat these effects, electrodes made with a mix of Nafion/SPILBCP ionomers were developed. Mixed Nafion/SPILBCP electrodes resulted in a substantial improvement in MEA performance across the kinetic and mass transport-limited regions. Notably, this is the first time that specific activity values determined from an MEA were observed to be on par with prior half-cell results for Nafion-free Pt/Vulcan systems. These findings present a prospective strategy to improve the overall performance of MEAs fabricated with surface accessible electrocatalysts, providing a pathway to tailor the local electrocatalyst/ionomer interface.

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Chemistry, Physical
Electrochemistry
Energy & Fuels
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
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