Effects of Hydrogen Sulfide on the Performance of a PEMFC

Abstract
An exploratory study of poisoning of membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) consisting of Pt and Pt-Ru alloy electrodes is presented. Steady-state polarization curves are reported for each electrode after exposure to 50 ppm at 70°C. Significant findings include partial recovery of the MEA after 3.8 h of exposure to the degree of the recovery is influenced by the electrochemical oxidation of two surface species observed during cyclic voltammetry experiments; in contrast to CO poisoning, Ru has no effect on increasing MEA tolerance toward poisoning; and increasing the Pt loading by 60% appears to quadruple the partially recovered current density at 0.6 V (i.e., for Pt-Ru alloy and for Pt electrodes) after exposure to neat for 24 h. © 2003 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.

This publication has 10 references indexed in Scilit: