Power Generation Charactristics of Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells with Electrocatalysts Supported on SnO 2 in High Current Density Range

The durability of cathode catalysts in polymer electrolyte fuel cells remains a significant technical issue. Start-stop cycles cause carbon support corrosion and Pt catalyst particle detachment from the support leading to a significant cell degradation. SnO 2 -supported electrocatalysts using carbon materials as the conducting framework have the potential to achieve both high activity and high durability. However, cell performance in the high current density range needs to be improved to apply them to heavy-duty vehicles. This study selected mesoporous carbon (MC) as the conductive framework because the use of mesopores could also improve load-cycle durability. In this study, the microstructure of the electrocatalyst layers using Pt/Sn 0.98 Nb 0.02 O 2 /MC is controlled to improve the power generation of the cells. In addition, Pt/Sn 0.98 Nb 0.02 O 2 /MC electrocatalyst demonstrates durability improvement against the start-stop cycles.