Sibunit Carbon-Based Cathodes for Proton-Exchange-Membrane Fuel Cells

Preparation, characterisation and evaluation of a novel cathode catalyst for H(2)/O(2) PEMFC -40 wt.-% Pt/Sibunit 1562P carbon - is presented. The performance of the cathodes based on the latter material is compared to that of a widely used commercially available reference material - 40 wt.-% Pt/Vulcan XC 72R - Hispec 4000 (Johnson Matthey, UK). It has been found that the mass activity of the 40 wt.-% Pt/Sibunit 1562P catalyst exceeds that of a commercial benchmark by a factor of 2 due to a better dispersion of the Pt metal realised in the Sibunit - supported catalyst. Mass transport properties of the two catalysts studied are virtually equal.