42 research outputs found
Importance of Fuel Cell Tests for Stability Assessment - Suitability of Titanium Diboride as an Alternative Support Material
Carbon corrosion is a severe issue limiting the long-term stability of carbon-
supported catalysts, in particular in the highly dynamic conditions of
automotive applications. (Doped) oxides have been discussed as suitable
alternatives to replace carbon, but often suffer from poor electron
conductivity. That is why non-oxide ceramics, such as tungsten carbide and
titanium nitride, have been discussed recently. Titanium diboride has also
been proposed, due to its promising activity and stability in an aqueous
electrochemical cell. In this work, Pt nanoparticles were deposited onto μm-
sized TiB2 particles with improved grain size, manufactured into porous gas
diffusion electrodes and tested in a realistic polymer electrolyte membrane
(PEM) fuel cell environment. In contrast to the model studies in an aqueous
electrochemical cell, in the presence of oxygen and high potentials at the
cathode side of a real fuel cell, TiB2 becomes rapidly oxidized as indicated
by intensely colored regions in the membrane-electrode assembly (MEA).
Moreover, already the electrode manufacturing process led to the formation of
titanium oxides, as shown by X-ray diffraction measurements. This demonstrates
that Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) measurements in an aqueous electrochemical cell
are not sufficient to prove stability of novel materials for fuel cell
applications