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Performance and kinetics of Pt–CNT catalyst electrodes in a PEM fuel cell

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2012

Ayo Samuel Afolabi ,
Ambali Saka Abdulkareem ,
Sunny Esayegbemu Iyuke  and
Hendrick Christoffel Van Zyl Pienaar
Ayo Samuel Afolabi*
Affiliation:
Department of Civil and Chemical Engineering, College of Science, Engineering and Technology, University of South Africa, Florida 1710, Johannesburg, South Africa
Ambali Saka Abdulkareem
Affiliation:
Department of Civil and Chemical Engineering, College of Science, Engineering and Technology, University of South Africa, Florida 1710, Johannesburg, South Africa
Sunny Esayegbemu Iyuke
Affiliation:
Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits 2050, Johannesburg, South Africa
Hendrick Christoffel Van Zyl Pienaar
Affiliation:
Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Institute of Applied Electronics, Vaal University of Technology, Vanderbijlpark 1900, South Africa
*
a)Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: afolaas@unisa.ac.za
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Abstract

This study investigated the performance of membrane electrode assembly (MEA) fabricated with various loadings of platinum catalyst on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and sulfonated membrane at constant conditions of duration, temperature and pressure. The fabricated MEA was tested in a single proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell unit using hydrogen and oxygen as fuel and oxidant gases respectively. The results obtained show that the performance of the MEA in the cell improves with increase in loading of the catalyst on the electrodes. The results obtained on kinetics of the fuel cell indicate that the MEA samples fabricated with 30 and 40 wt% Pt catalyst electrodes conform to the Tafel equation whereas the remaining MEA fabricated with 10 and 20 wt% catalyst samples do not obey the Tafel equation due to large values of their overpotential. Hirschenhofer and Tafel equations were used to model the performance of the catalyst electrodes in the cell and the simulated voltage obtained from the former showed better conformity with the experimental voltage than the latter.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 27 , Issue 11 , 14 June 2012 , pp. 1497 - 1505
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2012

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