Abstract
Ionic liquid (IL) additives to both traditional and advanced oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalysts have yielded remarkable improvements in catalyst performance and durability. However, incorporating ILs or IL-modified catalysts into the electrodes of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) membrane electrode assembly (MEA) has proven to be challenging. Sulfonated poly(ionic liquid) block copolymers (S-PILBCP) present an opportunity to incorporate IL functionality directly into the ionomer, orthogonal to protonic conductivity. Here, we use a rotating disc electrode (RDE) to characterize the interface between a S-PILBCP and Pt catalyst in comparison to Nafion. Catalyst thin films prepared with S-PILBCP show an 80% improvement in the ORR activity over those containing Nafion. Thin films of S-PILBCP also show a significantly reduced degree of poisoning sulfonate adsorption on a Pt(111) surface in comparison to Nafion. These half-cell results provide useful insights that help to highlight the source of the impact of the S-PILBCP on PEMFC MEA performance.
Original language | American English |
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Article number | 124511 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Journal of the Electrochemical Society |
Volume | 168 |
Issue number | 12 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2021 The Electrochemical Society ("ECS"). Published on behalf of ECS by IOP Publishing Limited.
NREL Publication Number
- NREL/JA-5900-82850
Keywords
- additives
- block copolymers
- electrocatalysts
- electrodes
- electrolytic reduction
- ionic liquids
- ionomers
- polyelectrolytes
- rotating disks
- thin films