The Comparability of Pt to Pt-Ru in Catalyzing the Hydrogen Oxidation Reaction for Alkaline Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells Operated at 80 °C

The Pt-catalyzed hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) for alkaline polymer electrolyte fuel cells (APEFCs) has been one of the focus subjects in current fuel-cell research. The Pt catalyst is inferior for HOR in alkaline solutions, and alloying with Ru is an effective promotion strategy. APEFCs with Pt-Ru anodes have provided a performance benchmark over 1 W cm(-2) at 60 degrees C. The Pt anode is now found to be in fact as good as the Pt-Ru anode for APEFCs operated at elevated conditions. At 80 degrees C with appropriate gas back-pressure, the cell with a Pt anode exhibits a peak power density of about 1.9 W cm(-2), which is very close to that with a Pt-Ru anode. Even by decreasing the anode Pt loading to 0.1 mg cm(-2), over 1.5 W cm(-2) can still be achieved at 80 degrees C. This finding alters the previous understanding about the Pt catalyzed HOR in alkaline media and casts a new light on the development of practical and high-power APFEC technology.