Determination of the Potentiostatic Stability of PEMFC Electro Catalysts at Elevated Temperatures

The electrochemical stability of platinum on carbon catalyst (Hispec (TM) 4000, Johnson Matthey) has been investigated predominantly at constant potentials ranging from 0.95 to 1.25 V at elevated temperatures. By combining a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) with electrochemical techniques, dynamic insight is obtained on the oxidation and corrosion of both platinum and carbon during potentiostatic hold. From the cyclic voltammetry (CV) data, it can be concluded that at all conditions, the platinum surface area decreases when Pt on carbon catalysts are exposed to a constant potential of 1.05 to 1.25 V. Under the applied conditions, this loss of surface area is primarily caused by the dissolution of platinum. Both the QCM as well as on-line electrochemical mass spectrometry (OLEMS) experiments show that the corrosion of carbon is catalysed by the presence of platinum at 80 degrees C, as long as the platinum surface is not passivated by an oxide layer.