A novel approach to pulsed laser deposition of platinum catalyst on carbon particles for use in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells.

The research undertaken aimed to develop an efficient Pt-based catalyst for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) by using a cost-effective and efficient physical method to deposit platinum nanoparticles (PtNPs) on carbon supports directly from the platinum target. The method developed avoids the chemical functionalization of the carbon substrate and the chemical synthesis of PtNPs during catalyst fabrication. Platinum was deposited on carbon particles at room temperature using a pulsed laser deposition (PLD) system equipped with an ArF excimer laser (λ = 193 nm).

Influence of Changes in the Shape of the Anode Channel in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell on the Loss of Its Service Life.

The fuel cell operation is associated with significant current density and durability problems, among other anode collectors. We used a numerical model based on flows with chemical reactions in a porous medium to solve these problems. We tested four variants of the anode channels.