The Triple Phase Boundary A Mathematical Model and Experimental Investigations for Fuel Cells

A mathematical model is developed which describes the nature, properties, and scaling of the triple phase boundary (TPB) for a Pt/Nafion polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) system. The model incorporates coupled reaction and diffusion phenomena, leading to a concept of the TPB not as a si...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the Electrochemical Society 2005-01, Vol.152 (2), p.A439-A444
Main Authors: O'Hayre, Ryan, Barnett, David M, Prinz, Fritz B
Format: Article
Language:English
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:A mathematical model is developed which describes the nature, properties, and scaling of the triple phase boundary (TPB) for a Pt/Nafion polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) system. The model incorporates coupled reaction and diffusion phenomena, leading to a concept of the TPB not as a singularity, but rather as having an "effective width." The "effective width" of the TPB depends on the interplay between the relative rates of the reaction and diffusion processes at the Pt/Nafion interface. Implications of the model for PEMFC catalyst layer design are explored. Additionally, scaling predictions of the model are compared with kinetic observations from geometrically well-defined Pt-microelectrode/Nafion experiments and are shown to match favorably with experimental results.
ISSN:0013-4651
DOI:10.1149/1.1851054