Low Cost Membrane-Less Hydrogen Fuel Cell with Ultra-Low PGM Content

In this paper a direct hydrogen fuel cell is operated in the absence of a membrane and at ultra-low Pt content using an aqueous iron redox species electrolyte as the oxidant. The liquid iron redox oxidant allowed for the use of a 3-D carbon cathode structure which in conjunction with a liquid electrolyte was used to eliminate the membrane and the need for precious metals on the cathode. Non-optimized maximum power density up to 250 mW/cm(2) (330 mW/cm(2) iR-corrected) and a current density in excess of 1000 mA/cm(2) were achieved with a total Pt content of the fuel cell as low as 0.05 mg/cm(2). In addition the membrane-less electrode. assembly demonstrated superior performance to the conventional PEM-based MEA. The membrane-less direct hydrogen redox fuel cell (DHRFC) has the potential to be performance competitive with conventional polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) technology but be significantly superior on a cost basis and with balance of plant benefits. (C) 2013 The Electrochemical Society.