Pd-based PdPt(19:1)/C electrocatalyst as an electrode in PEM fuel cell

A carbon supported Pd-based PdPt catalyst with a Pd:Pt atomic ratio of 19:1 was synthesized and applied to a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). Three different types of single cells with the electrodes containing (PdPt/C:Pt/C), (Pt/C:PdPt/C) and (PdPt/C:PdPt/C) as their anode and cathode electrocatalysts were fabricated and the performance of them was compared. The single cell using PdPt/C as the anode electrocatalyst showed a high performance comparable to the cell with a commercial Pt/C electrocatalyst. This indicates that Pd-based electrocatalysts can be used as an anode electrocatalyst in PEMFC with very small amount of Pt (just about 5 at.%).