Publication Type
Journal
Journal Name
ECS Electrochemistry Letters
Publication Date
Volume
2
Issue
3
Abstract
Catalysts that enable proton exchange membrane fuel cells to weather the damaging conditions experienced during transient periods
of fuel starvation have been developed. The addition of minute amounts of iridium and ruthenium to the cathode enhances the oxygen
evolution reaction (OER) during start-up/shutdown events, thus lowering the peak cell voltage closer to the onset of water oxidation.
The catalyst loadings ranged from 1 to 10 μg/cm2, but showed surprisingly high activity and durability. At such low loadings, it is
possible to fully integrate the OER catalysts with negligible interference on fuel cell performance and a marginal increase in catalyst
cost.
