Ultra-low platinum loadings in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell electrodes fabricated via simultaneous electrospinning/electrospraying method

•New electrospinning/electrospraying technique developed for fuel cell electrodes.•Unique nanoparticle/nanofiber electrode morphology evidenced by microscopy.•Ultra-low platinum loadings at high power densities were observed.•Excellent platinum utilization of 0.024 gPt kW−1 was achieved.•High electrochemical surface area was measured by cyclic voltammetry.

In this study, membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) were fabricated using a simultaneous electrospinning/electrospraying (E/E) technique to produce a unique nanoparticle/nanofiber cathode catalyst layer morphology evidenced by scanning electron microscopy. H2/O2 and H2/air polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell performance was evaluated for E/E MEAs at ultra-low Pt cathode loadings of 0.052 and 0.022 mgPt cm−2, where maximum power densities of 1.090 and 0.936 W cm−2 (H2/O2) and 0.656 and 0.625 W cm−2 (H2/air) were achieved at these two Pt loadings, respectively. This was compared to a conventional control MEA at a 0.42 mgPt cm−2 cathode catalyst loading with maximum power densities of 1.420 and 0.839 W cm−2 for H2/O2 and H2/air, respectively. These results correspond to a significant reduction in Pt loading (5–12% of control) at only a modest reduction in power density (∼66–78% of control) for the E/E electrodes. Excellent platinum utilization in the cathode of 0.024 gPt kW−1 (∼42 kW gPt−1) was achieved for the E/E electrode at 0.022 mgPt cm−2 cathode loading. Cyclic voltammetry results show an electrochemical surface area higher in the E/E electrodes compared to the control, which provides a rationale for the excellent platinum utilization results, where the E/E morphology results in more triple phase boundaries with more accessible Pt in the electrode.

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