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Standardized protocols for evaluating platinum group metal-free oxygen reduction reaction electrocatalysts in polymer electrolyte fuel cells

Nature Catalysis volume 5, pages 455–462 (2022)Cite this article

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Abstract

Platinum group metal (PGM)-free electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction at the polymer electrolyte fuel cell cathode have shown substantial improvements in activity—especially those derived from transition metals, nitrogen and carbon. However, their stability and durability remain insufficient. A key to enabling future improvements and performance comparisons lies in the development of test protocols that are relevant to the operating conditions of the fuel cell cathode, can be completed within a reasonable time and are ubiquitously adopted. Here we propose and validate such protocols, designed with special attention to typical catalyst degradation mechanisms of PGM-free catalysts. The results of the cross-laboratory validation study using two different catalysts attest to the strength and feasibility of the proposed approach. We hope that the information provided here can serve as a broad and effective platform for assessing the performance and durability of PGM-free catalysts for polymer electrolyte fuel cells.

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Fig. 1: Effect of cathode potential cycling in N2 and in air.
Fig. 2: Differential cell hardware.
Fig. 3: Performance degradation of the two catalysts.
Fig. 4: Performance degradation during cycling at different voltages.
Fig. 5: Performance degradation in H2–O2 fuel cell.

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Data availability

Experimental data used to generate the plots and to support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

Funding was provided by US DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office, under the ElectroCat Consortium, DOE technology managers D. Peterson and D. Papageorgopolous. This work was authored in part by Los Alamos National Laboratory operated by Triad National Security, LLC under US DOE contract no. 89233218CNA000001, by Argonne National Laboratory, a US DOE Office of Science laboratory operated under contract no. DE-AC02-06CH11357, by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, managed and operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC, for the US DOE under contract no. DE-AC36-08GO28308, and by Oak Ridge National Laboratory operated by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract no. DE-AC05-00OR22725. This work used the resources of the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, which is a DOE Office of Science User Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the resources of the APS, a DOE Office of Science User Facility operated by Argonne National Laboratory under contract no. DE-AC36-08GO28308. ICP-OES was performed by Seema Naik of ANL’s Analytical Chemistry Laboratory. The authors wish to thank A. J. Kropf and E. Wegener for acquiring the X-ray absorption spectroscopy data, the staff of the APS’s MR-CAT and MR-CAT’s member institutions, V. D. Andrade of the APS’s 32-ID, and C. F. Cetinbas from Nuclear Science and Engineering Division at ANL for performing X-ray nano-computed tomography experiments. We also gratefully acknowledge the computing resources provided on Blues (and/or Bebop), a high-performance computing cluster operated by the Laboratory Computing Resource Center at ANL. The Talos F200X S/TEM tool was provided by US DOE, Office of Nuclear Energy, Fuel Cycle R&D Program, and the Nuclear Science User Facilities.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Hanguang Zhang, Luigi Osmieri, Jae Hyung Park.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Materials Physics and Applications Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA

    Hanguang Zhang, Luigi Osmieri, Hoon Taek Chung & Piotr Zelenay

  2. Chemistry and Nanoscience Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO, USA

    Luigi Osmieri & Kenneth C. Neyerlin

  3. Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL, USA

    Jae Hyung Park & Deborah J. Myers

  4. Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA

    David A. Cullen

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Contributions

H.Z. performed fuel cell testing at LANL and analysed test data with support from L.O. L.O. fabricated MEAs, carried out XFR measurements and fuel cell testing at NREL. J.H.P performed fuel cell testing at ANL. H.T.C. synthesized the Fe–N–C_LANL catalyst. D.A.C. carried out STEM-EDS experiments. J.H.P. and D.J.M. performed ICP analysis and EXAFS experiments. H.Z., L.O. and J.H.P. prepared the manuscript draft. D.A.C., K.C.N., D.J.M. and P.Z. completed the write-up. K.C.N., D.J.M and P.Z. conceptualized and supervised the project.

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Correspondence to Piotr Zelenay.

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Zhang, H., Osmieri, L., Park, J.H. et al. Standardized protocols for evaluating platinum group metal-free oxygen reduction reaction electrocatalysts in polymer electrolyte fuel cells. Nat Catal 5, 455–462 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41929-022-00778-3

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