Effect of platinum catalyst loading on membrane electrode assembly (MEA) in proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC)

Catalyst layer distribution of platinum particles by brush coating method on a gas diffusion layer (GDL) for proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) was studied. The performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) was characterized at different catalyst loadings (0.3mg/cm2, 0.35mg/cm2,0.40mg/cm2, 045mg/cm2and 0.50 mg/cm2on a carbon support). The best fuel cell performance was found for cell which has 0.50 mg/cm2platinum loading in both anode and cathode with 0.513V at an operating current of 10A at 36.8°C with ambient pressure. It is due to more platinum loading will have more reaction with hydrogen gas. The characterization of the particle size and identification of individual surface atoms was performed by means of Xray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM).