Ordered Nanostructural Engineering of Cathode Catalyst Layer With High Mass Transport Efficiency for High-Performance Ultra-Low Pt Loading Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

Abstract

The order-structured cathode catalyst layer (CCL) has been considered the most promising solution to construct low-cost proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) with an ultra-low Pt loading (<100.0 μg cm⁻²). Herein, the ordered CCL was developed by depositing Pt nanoparticles onto the vertically aligned carbon nanotube film (Pt/VACNTs) via atomic layer deposition. Compared to the disordered CCL prepared by random Pt/CNTs obtained by dispersing Pt/VACNTs, the Pt/VACNTs-ordered CCL is characterized by higher porosity (41.64%) and smaller tortuosity (1.29), leading to a 54% and 53% reduction of oxygen transport resistance and proton transport resistance, respectively. As a result, the cell with Pt/VACNTs-ordered CCL at a Pt loading of 80.0 μg cm⁻² produces the maximum power density of 1.01 W cm⁻² (H₂/Air, 150.0 kPa), much higher than the cell with the same Pt loading Pt/CNTs-disordered CCL (0.69 W cm⁻² at 80.0 μg cm⁻²) and commercial Pt/C CCL (0.77 W cm⁻² at 200.0 μg_Pt cm⁻²). Meanwhile, the Pt/VACNTs-ordered CCL also exhibits a higher durability with only a power density loss of 19.4% and a voltage loss of 29.7 mV at 0.8 A cm⁻² after 30 000 cycles of accelerated stress test, compared with that of Pt/C (a power density loss of 33.2% and a voltage loss of 80.0 mV). This work further identifies the critical role of ordered CCLs in charge and mass transport for developing ultra-low Pt loading PEMFCs.

Keywords

atomic layer deposition / ordered cathode catalyst layer / proton exchange membrane fuel cells / ultra-low Pt loading / vertically aligned carbon nanotubes

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