Characteristics of platinum-based electrocatalysts for mobile PEMFC applications

Platinum-based electrocatalysts play an important role in the development of high performance PEMFC stacks for mobile applications. This paper reviews objectives, development work, and results of a Research and Development Program funded by the German Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Technology (BMBF) to develop the basic technology as well as components for mobile PEMFC applications. In the framework of this program, Degussa-Hüls developed precious metal-based electrocatalysts for operation under practical reformate/air PEMFC conditions which yield high power densities up to 0.5 W/cm2 at low total platinum loadings of less than 0.5 mg Pt/cm2. A CO-tolerant anode electrocatalyst, exhibiting a CO-tolerance of 100 ppm CO, was developed and characterized. The features of the new electrocatalyst materials were verified by DaimlerChrysler in a 2.7 kW PEMFC stack at the end of the program.