Influence of Ionomer Content in Pt/mesoporous SnO2 Electrodes on PEM Fuel Cell Performance

The search for more durable supports for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalyst is a topic of increasing importance in the development of polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs). Recently, tin oxide (SnO _2 ) supports have garnered attention because of their high oxidative stability. However, impro...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ryuichi Murase, Masanori Inaba, Yoriko Matsuoka, Yuji Kamitaka, Shuhei Yoshino, Akihiko Koiwai, Tomohiro Takeshita, Kensaku Kodama
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2025-01-01
Series:ECS Advances
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1149/2754-2734/adb31b
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Summary:The search for more durable supports for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalyst is a topic of increasing importance in the development of polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs). Recently, tin oxide (SnO _2 ) supports have garnered attention because of their high oxidative stability. However, improving their cell performance, particularly under wet conditions, remains a challenge before their successful deployment. Herein, we expand on our previous work on carbon-free mesoporous SnO _2 -based catalyst supports and investigate the effects of ionomer content on ORR performance and cathode catalyst layer (CCL) structure. Optimization of the ionomer content resulted in a more uniform ionomer distribution and alleviation of CCL flooding and a 2-fold increase in catalytic activity under wet conditions. As a result, the mesoporous SnO _2 -based catalyst supports exhibited comparable performance to solid-core carbon supports under both wet and dry conditions. Finally, we present a summary of our progress on the development of mesoporous SnO _2 -based catalyst support and highlight critical areas of improvements needed towards their future deployment.
ISSN:2754-2734