MASS TRANSPORT ISSUES IN LOW PLATINUM LOADING CATALYST LAYERS FOR POLYMER FUEL CELLS

State of art cathode catalyst layers for polymer electrolyte fuel cells require the use of Platinum based catalysts to promote the sluggish oxygen reduction reaction, with a Platinum loading of approximately 0.2 mg cm-2. The main goal of research in long term deals with the necessity to reduce the Platinum loading that still impacts the cost of the system. Even though this topic has been researched intensively, low Platinum catalyst layers present mass transport limitations that strongly affect performance. In the present work mass transport overpotential in low Platinum polymer fuel cells is investigated with the aid of a quasi 2D single cell continuum based model.