Durability of Alternative Metal Oxide Supports for Application at a Proton-Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Cathode—Comparison of Antimony- and Niobium-Doped Tin Oxide

Laetitia Dubau, Frédéric Maillard, Marian Chatenet, Sara Cavaliere, Ignacio Jiménez-Morales, Annette Mosdale and Renaut Mosdale
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Laetitia Dubau: University Grenoble Alpes, University Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, Grenoble INP, LEPMI, 38000 Grenoble, France
Frédéric Maillard: University Grenoble Alpes, University Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, Grenoble INP, LEPMI, 38000 Grenoble, France
Marian Chatenet: University Grenoble Alpes, University Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, Grenoble INP, LEPMI, 38000 Grenoble, France
Sara Cavaliere: Institut Charles Gerhardt Montpellier, UMR 5253, CNRS, Université Montpellier, ENSCM, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier CEDEX 5, France
Ignacio Jiménez-Morales: Institut Charles Gerhardt Montpellier, UMR 5253, CNRS, Université Montpellier, ENSCM, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier CEDEX 5, France
Annette Mosdale: Paxitech, 38130 Echirolles, France
Renaut Mosdale: Paxitech, 38130 Echirolles, France

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 2, 1-14

Abstract: In this study, the resistance to corrosion of niobium-doped tin dioxide (Nb-doped SnO 2 , NTO) and antimony-doped tin oxide (Sb-doped SnO 2 , ATO) supports has been probed for proton-exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) application. To achieve this goal, ATO or NTO supports with loose-tube (fiber-in-tube) morphology were synthesized using electrospinning and decorated with platinum (Pt) nanoparticles. These cathode catalysts were submitted to two different electrochemical tests, an accelerated stress test following the EU Harmonised Test Protocols for PEMFC in a single cell configuration and an 850 h test in real air-breathing PEMFC systems. In both cases, the dissolution of the doping element was measured either by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP–MS) performed on the exhaust water or by energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (X-EDS) analysis on ultramicrotomed membrane electrode assembly (MEA), and correlated to the performance losses upon ageing. It appears that the NTO-based support leads to lower performances than the ATO-based one, mainly owing to the low electronic conductivity of NTO. However, in the case of ATO, dissolution of the Sb doping element is non-negligible and represents a major issue from a stability point-of-view.

Keywords: proton-exchange membrane fuel cell; durability; degradation mechanism; metal oxide support; antimony-doped tin oxide; niobium-doped tin oxide; loose tube (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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