Clarifying the origin of dominant gas transport resistance in fuel cells

A study on conducted by Kazuma Shinozaki et al. was published in the Journal of Power Sources.

Fuel cells for vehicles require high power density, and minimizing gas transport resistance in the fuel cell cathode catalyst layer greatly improves the fuel cell performance. However, understanding the origin of the gas transport resistance in an actual catalyst layer had been challenging. In this paper, we demonstrated that the dominant gas transport resistance originates from the interface of Pt catalyst and ionomer, within approximately 1 nm from Pt catalyst surface. The results are obtained using electrochemical methods, a gas transport model, and instrumental analytical techniques. Our findings indicate that designing the molecular structure of the ionomer is important for improving fuel cell efficiency and lowering the cost.

Title: Investigation of Gas Transport Resistance in Fuel Cell Catalyst Layers via Hydrogen Limiting Current Measurements of CO-covered Catalyst Surfaces
Authors: Shinozaki, K., Kajiya, S., Yamakawa, S., Hasegawa, N., Suzuki, T., Shibata, M., Jinnouchi, R.
Journal Name: Journal of Power Sources
Published: March 1, 2023
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2023.232909