The comparison of activation methods for the PEMFC MEA with PtCo/C catalyst in cathode

Abstract

to its various advantages. Before starting the fuel cell, the activ ation process is necessary to improve the performance of PEMFC, however, there are few studies on whether the conventional activation protocol can activate the membrane electrode assembly MEA with Pt alloy catalyst normally. In this study , two different MEAs with PtCo/C catalyst in the cathode electrode were activated by three different activation methods (constant voltage control, current cycling control, and hydrogen pumping control). All the protocols fully activated the MEAs showing th eir performances and resistances were saturated. However, the electrochemically active surface area wasn’t change d after activation for all MEAs and protocols, suggesting that the performance improvement is due to other reasons like hydration or pore openi ng rather than the change of catalyst surface. The hydrogen pumping protocol took the longest activation time (5h) because of the absence of an oxygen reduction reaction. The current cycling protocol took the shortest time (2h~3h), but the performance afte r activation was lower than that one of the other protocols. The constant voltage protocol needed a shorter time (3h) than the hydrogen pumping and the performance was higher than current cycling protocol, implying that constant voltage is most appropriate to activate MEA with a PtCo/C catalyst.