Performance Studies of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells with Different Flow Field Designs – Review

Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) is majorly used for power generation without producing any emission. In PEMFC, the water generated in the cathode heavily affects the performance of fuel cell which needs better water management. The flow channel designs, dimensions, shape and size of the rib/channel, effective area of the flow channel and material properties are considered for better water management and performance enhancement of the PEMFC in addition to the inlet reactant's mass flow rate, flow directions, relative humidity, pressure and temperature. With the purpose of increasing the output energy of the fuel cell, many flow field designs are being developed continuously. In this paper, the performance of various conventional, modified, hybrid and new flow field designs of the PEMFC is studied in detail. Further the effects of channel tapering, channel bending, landing to channels width ratios, channel cross-sections and insertion of baffles/blockages/pin-fins/inserts are reviewed. The power density of the flow field designs, the physical parameters like active area, dimensions of channel/rib, number of channels; and the operating parameters like temperature and pressure are also tabulated

Synergetic effect induced/tuned bimetallic nanoparticles (Pt-Ni) anchored graphene as a catalyst for oxygen reduction reaction and scalable SS-314L serpentine flow field proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs)

© 2022 Elsevier. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/A simple design of electroactive and cost-effective electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity is crucial towards energy conversion in the commercialization of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Herein, we synthesized a stable electroactive bimetallic catalyst of Ni anchored with low loading of Pt nanoparticles, and graphene used as a supportive material for catalyst integration (Pt3-Ni/G). It exhibited maximum electrochemical surface area (ECSA, 108.56 m2/gPt), mass activity (2.2 A mgPt) and specific activity (3.47 mA cm-2), signifying an excellent ORR activity. In addition, a scalable PEMFC fabrication through 0.2 mgPtcm-2 Pt3-Ni/G as cathode with an active area of 25 cm2 and stainless steel-314L (SS-314L) used as a serpentine flow field. This strategy provides a maximum power output of 71.25 W mgPt-1 at current density 1.59 A cm-2. In addition, Pt3-Ni/C//Pt/C, based PEMFC system delivered a constant power output (68.75 W mgPt-1) even after 4 h of continuous cycling.This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF-2014R1A6A1030419). This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (No. 2020112382). The authors also wish to acknowledge the support and facilities offered by the PSG management, PSG Institute of Advanced Studies, PSG Sons & Charities, Coimbatore, India.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Pt-Ru-NiTiO3 Nanoparticles Dispersed on Vulcan as High Performance Electrocatalysts for the Methanol Oxidation Reaction (MOR)

We propose a high performance electrocatalyst based on Pt-Ru-NiTiO3 nanoparticles supported on Vulcan carbon (Pt-Ru-NiTiO3/C) for the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) in acid medium. The electrocatalyst is prepared from a two-step procedure using a wet chemical method. The morphological studies from TEM indicate that Pt-Ru-NiTiO3 nanoparticles are uniformly distributed on Vulcan carbon. The XRD shows the fcc structure of Pt nanomaterials, while the chemical composition examined using XPS indicates the presence of large fractions of Pt-0 and Ru-0 species (i.e., metallic state), OH- and O2- species are also formed on the surface of the catalyst. The Pt-Ru-NiTiO3/C electrocatalyst exhibits a higher catalytic activity compared to a PtRu/C alloy. Pt-NiTiO3/C is also more active than the alloy. Therefore, on one side, the addition of Ru enhances the MOR through the formation of oxygenated adsorbed species on Ru, which thereby promotes the oxidation of CO to CO2 at more negative potentials (i.e., the bifunctional mechanism). On the other hand, the superior electrocatalytic performance of Pt-Ru-NiTiO3/C is attributed also to the synergistic effects of NiTiO3, which promotes the reaction increasing the current density and shifting the onset potential to even more negative values, suggesting that it also participates in the bifunctional mechanism along with Ru. From the results shown here, Pt-Ru-NiTiO3/C can be a promising anode nanomaterial for direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs)