DEVELOPMENT OF NOVEL ELECTROCATALYST FOR PROTON EXCHANGE MEMBRANE FUEL CELLS

Proton-exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is one of the strongest contenders as a power source for space & electric vehicle applications. Platinum catalyst is used for both fuel and air electrodes in PEMFCs. CO contamination of H{sub 2} greatly affects electrocatalysts used at the anode of polymer electrolyte fuel cells and decrease the cell performance. Pt-Ru catalyst had been recognized to alleviate this problem by showing better tolerance to CO poisoning than only Pt catalyst. This irreversible poisoning of the anode can be happened even in concentrations as little as a few ppm, and therefore, require expensive scrubbing to reduce the contaminant concentration to acceptable level. In order to commercialize this environmentally sound source of energy/power system, development of suitable impurity tolerant catalyst is needed. This project will develop novel electrocatalysts for the PEMFCs and demonstrate the feasibility of a H{sub 2}/O{sub 2} fuel cell base on these materials. This project, if successful, will reduce the costs due to reduce Pt catalyst loading or use non-precious metals. It will increase the PEM fuel cell performance by increasing catalyst tolerance to methanol oxidation intermediate products (CO) and fuel impurities (H{sub 2}S), which will generate substantial interest for commercialization of the PEM fuel cell technology