A Novel Half-Cell Design and Fabrication for an In-Situ Evaluation of Pem Fuel Cell Electrocatalysts

A novel electrochemical half-cell is designed and fabricated for in-situ evaluating both anode and cathode catalysts that mimic PEM fuel cell operating conditions. Both carbon-supported Pt and Pt0.5Ru0.5 catalysts are used to prepare the catalyst-coated membrane electrodes for this half-cell validation. A gas feeding system is constructed for quantitatively supplying of H2, H2+CO, or O2 gases to the half-cell for measurements. CO-tolerance of the anode catalyst in hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) is tested using this cell. The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) on Pt/C-coated membrane electrode is studied using this half-cell, further confirming the feasibility of this half-cell design and fabrication. It is expected that this half-cell is also useful for catalyst/catalyst layer evaluation for direct liquid fuel cells.