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Updated: May 7, 2026
On the Preparation and Testing of Fuel Cell Catalysts Using the Thin Film Rotating Disk Electrode Method
Published on: March 16, 2018
Structural kinetics of a Pt/C cathode catalyst with practical catalyst loading in an MEA for PEFC operating
Nozomu Ishiguro1, Takahiro Saida, Tomoya Uruga
1Institute for Molecular Science, 38 Nishigo-naka, Myodaiji, Okazaki, Aichi 444-8585, Japan.
Abstract:
The structural kinetics of surface events on a Pt/C cathode catalyst in a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) with a practical catalyst loading (0.5 mgPt cm(-2)) for a polymer electrolyte fuel cell were investigated by in situ time-resolved X-ray absorption fine structure analysis (XAFS; time resolution: 100 ms) for the first time. The rate constants of structural changes in the Pt/C cathode catalyst in the MEA during voltage cycling were successfully estimated. For voltage-cycling processes, all reactions (electrochemical reactions and structural changes in the Pt catalyst) in the MEA were found to be much faster than those in an MEA with a thick cathode catalyst layer, but the in situ time-resolved XAFS analysis revealed that significant time lags similarly existed between the electrochemical reactions and the structural changes in the Pt cathode catalyst. The time-resolved XAFS also revealed differences in the structural kinetics of the Pt/C cathode catalyst for the voltage-cycling processes under N2 and air flows at the cathode.
