PEM Electrochemical Hydrogen Compression with Sputtered Pt Catalysts

This work presents research on thin magnetron-sputtered platinum (Pt) films deposited over commercial gas diffusion electrodes and applied to convert and pressurize hydrogen in an electrochemical hydrogen pump. The electrodes were integrated into a membrane electrode assembly with a proton conductive membrane. Their electrocatalytic efficiency toward hydrogen oxidation and hydrogen evolution reactions was studied in a self-made laboratory test cell by means of steady-state polarization curves and cell voltage measurements (U/j and U/p_diff characteristics). The achieved current density at a cell voltage of 0.5 V, the atmospheric pressure of the input hydrogen, and a temperature of 60 °C was more than 1.3 A cm^-2. The registered increase in the cell voltage with the increasing pressure was only 0.05 mV bar^-1. Comparative data with commercial E-TEK electrodes reveal the superior catalyst performance and essential cost reduction of the electrochemical hydrogen conversion on the sputtered Pt films.