Assessing Utilization Boundaries for Pt-Based Catalysts in an Operating Proton-Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell
Michal Ronovský, Lujin Pan, Malte Klingenhof, Isaac Martens, Lukáš Fusek, Peter Kúš, Raphaël Chattot, Marta Mirolo, Fabio Dionigi, Harriet Burdett, Jonathan Sharman, Peter Strasser, Alex Martinez Bonastre, Jakub Drnec
Abstract
Octahedra (oh) PtNiX/C catalysts are notable cathode catalysts for proton-exchange membrane fuel cells due to their exceptional oxygen reduction reaction activity. Here, we investigate the degradation of oh-PtNiIr catalysts under fuel-cell conditions using operando X-ray diffraction (XRD). Employing two accelerated stress tests with different lower potential limits and XRD-coupled cyclic voltammetry on benchmark Pt and oh-PtNiIr catalysts, we find that dissolution and degradation are proportional to the extent of reduction, independent of the catalyst’s nature. Our method identifies the optimal potential range for Pt-based catalysts to minimize degradation without lengthy stress tests.