Analysis and Experiments of Major Parameters in Catalyst Layer Structure Affecting on PEFC Performance

Achieving the optimum structure of electrode catalyst layer and the efficient transport of the reactants is significantly effective to reduce the usage of Pt catalyst in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells. In this paper, we fabricated the catalyst coated membrane (CCM) and estimated structural parameters of the catalyst layer from observation of the CCM by a SEM. The characteristics of the cell performance were calculated using an agglomerate model with the estimated parameters, and the simulation model was validated by comparing the simulated and experimental results. Then, we evaluated the effects of the major parameters such as the polymer electrolyte film thickness covering carbon agglomerates on the cell performance by the simulation, and present a new concept effective for reducing the identified major resistances of oxygen supply by controlling the film structure of polymer electrolyte.