Reactants pressure effect on PEMFC performance with nonprecious metal catalyst for cathode

The operating pressure can change the efficiency of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) by affecting some factors, such as influencing the open circuit voltage of the system and improving the kinetics of electrochemical reactions [1]. Of course, the compression of gases can lead to undesirable issues such as the hydrogen crossover [2, 3] and the excessive increase of water in the system [4]. Therefore, it is necessary to optimize the working pressure of the PEMFC. In this study to examine effect of reactants pressure on PEMFC performance with nonprecious metal catalyst (NPMC) for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in cathode, a membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) was fabricated and for the ORR in the cathode, the NPMC (Fe/Co-N-C) which obtained by using Fe/Co-ZIF-8-(10h) MOF precursor, was used. The prepared MEA tested at three different operating pressures (up to 2 bar).