Simulation of nanostructured electrodes for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

被引:36
作者
Rao, Sanjeev M. [1 ]
Xing, Yangchuan [1 ]
机构
[1] Missouri Univ Sci & Technol, Dept Chem & Biol Engn, Rolla, MO 65409 USA
基金
美国国家科学基金会;
关键词
Nanostructured electrodes; Carbon nanotubes; Fuel cells; Catalyst layer; Platinum loading; Simulation;
D O I
10.1016/j.jpowsour.2008.07.062
中图分类号
O64 [物理化学(理论化学)、化学物理学];
学科分类号
070304 ; 081704 ;
摘要
Aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with Pt uniformly deposited on them are being considered in fabricating the catalyst layer of polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell electrodes. When coated with a proton conducting polymer (e.g., Nafion) on the Pt/CNTs, each Pt/CNT acts as a nanoelectrode and a collection of such nanoelectrodes constitutes the proposed nanostructured electrodes. Computer modeling was performed for the cathode side, in which both multicomponent and Knudsen diffusion were taken into account. The effect of the nanoelectrode lengths was also studied with catalyst layer thicknesses of 2, 4, 6, and 10 mu m. It was observed that shorter lengths produce better electrode performance due to lower diffusion barriers and better catalyst utilization. The effect of spacing between the nanoelectrodes was studied. Simulation results showed the need to have sufficiently large gas pores, i.e., large spacing, for good oxygen transport. However, this is at the cost of obtaining large electrode currents due to reduction of the number of nanoelectrodes per unit geometrical area of the nanostructured electrode. An optimization of the nanostructured electrodes was obtained when the spacing was at about 400 nm that produced the best limiting Current density. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
引用
收藏
页码:1094 / 1100
页数:7
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