Designing self-humidified platinum anchored silica decorated carbon electrocatalyst for boosting the durability and performance of polymer electrolyte fuel cell stack

Abstract Herein, we report the design and fabrication of highly efficient self-humidified electrocatalyst for the enhancement of polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) performance. An optimum level of silica decorated carbon as an alternative and ultra-stable support to platinum catalyst is prepared by a versatile one-pot synthesis method. The surface morphology, crystallinity, chemical oxidation states and metal/metal oxide-carbon interfacial distribution are examined by High resolution transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, respectively. An optimum level of silica decorated carbon supported Pt (Pt/SDC) boosts the performance and stability of PEFC even up to 200 h in relation to Pt/C under dry gas condition. In addition, the effect of temperature and relative humidity on both anode and cathode is investigated by steady-state cell polarization. A 15-cell air-cooled indigenous prototype PEFC stack is designed, fabricated and assembled. An optimum level of silica decorated on carbon supported Pt employed 15 cell air-cooled stack shows superior power of 104 W at 8 V and also retains more than 96% of initial performance even after 200 h of steady-state operation. In the present work, an optimum level of silica retain water in the triple phase boundary in individual cells, which in turn enhances the overall stack performance and stability even after 200 h of steady-state operation under dry gas feed.