Cell performance of MEA fabricated with Pt-ZSM-5-carbon electrode for PEMFC

Pt-ZSM-5 was successfully obtained through ion-exchange and reduction process. The MEAs with various zeolite-containing anode fabricated by composite and alternate catalyst layers were assembled and the cell test was performed. The results indicate that the MEAs with zeolite-containing anode show much better cell performance regardless of the fabrication method of electrode. It was observed that the cell performance especially at high current density was enhanced with zeolite loading into electrodes. It might be attributed to the combined effects of enhanced proton conduction due to hydrophilicity of ZSM-5 compared with carbon, the availability of more electrochemically active Pt sites within micropores of ZSM-5 and prevention of Pt dissolution into membrane by zeolite catalyst layer existing near membrane. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (grant number 2009-0083705)