Effect of hydrogen partial pressure on a polymer electrolyte fuel cell performance

Abstract

We first investigated the effect of partial pressure of hydrogen (H(2)) on the performance of polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) by controlling the ratio of hydrogen and nitrogen (N(2)). The cell performance with Pt/C anode was significantly decreased with reduction of the partial pressure of H(2) in the presence of carbon monoxide (CO), while the performance variation was negligible in the absence of CO. Severe CO poisoning on Pt/C electrode at low partial pressure of H(2) might be attributed to the hindering effect by N(2) and CO. On the other hand, PtRu/C anode showed consistent power performance even at low partial pressure of H(2).