Effect of CO in the anode fuel on the performance of PEM fuel cell cathode

Even trace amounts of CO in the fuel for a proton-exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) could poison not only the anode, which is directly exposed to the fuel, but also the cathode, which is separated from the fuel by a proton-exchange membrane; and the performance decline of the cathode is sometimes...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of power sources 2002-09, Vol.111 (2), p.239-247
Main Authors: Qi, Zhigang, He, Chunzhi, Kaufman, Arthur
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
CO-tolerant cathode catalyst
Energy
Energy. Thermal use of fuels
Equipments for energy generation and conversion: thermal, electrical, mechanical energy, etc
Exact sciences and technology
Fuel cells
Proton-exchange membrane fuel cell
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Summary:Even trace amounts of CO in the fuel for a proton-exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) could poison not only the anode, which is directly exposed to the fuel, but also the cathode, which is separated from the fuel by a proton-exchange membrane; and the performance decline of the cathode is sometimes more than that of the anode. Adsorption of CO on the cathode catalyst has been detected electrochemically, and this indicates that CO can pass through the membrane to reach the cathode. To reduce such a poisoning effect, fuel cell operation conditions (e.g. level of membrane humidification, gas pressure difference between cathode and anode), membrane and catalyst layer structures, and CO-tolerant cathode catalysts should be further explored.
ISSN:0378-7753
1873-2755
DOI:10.1016/S0378-7753(02)00300-2