H2/air alkaline membrane fuel cell performance and durability, using novel ionomer and non-platinum group metal cathode catalyst

The development of H2/air alkaline membrane fuel cells (AMFCs) enables the use of non-platinum group metal (PGM) catalysts which are intrinsically stable and have an activity similar to platinum in alkaline media for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). As opposed to PEMFCs, the research and development of these types of catalysts for AMFC has had little attention and even less has been given to the development of alkaline membranes and ionomers. Acta S.p.A. has developed recently new non-PGM ORR catalysts with activity higher than Pt in alkaline media. More importantly, a new anionic ionomer derived from cheap starting materials with optimum performance has been produced. In this paper we demonstrate the use of this new ionomer in H2/air AMFCs showing the first polarization and durability data, with current densities higher than those recently reported in the literature. Furthermore, we report the effect of CO2 on AMFC performance, showing the possibility of use of such alkaline devices not only in outer-space applications, but also with atmospheric air for large scale devices.