University of California

Zulima Martin

John Borland Kerr

Adam Z Weber

Kyle D Clark

Qinggang He

Xiaobing Zhu

Gi Suk Hwang

Peter Driscoll

Water soluble catalysts, (M)meso-tetra(N-Methyl-4-Pyridyl)Porphinepentachloride (M=Fe, Co, Mn & Cu), have been incorporated into the polymer binder of oxygen reduction cathodes in membrane electrode assemblies used in PEM fuel cells and found to support encouragingly high current densities. The voltages achieved are low compared to commercial platinum catalysts but entirely consistent with the behavior observed in electroanalytical measurements of the homogeneous catalysts. A model of the dynamics of the electrode action has been developed and validated and this allows the MEA electrodes to be optimized for any chemistry that has been demonstrated in solution. It has been shown that improvements to the performance will come from modifications to the structure of the catalyst combined with optimization of the electrode structure and a well-founded pathway to practical non-platinum group metal catalysts exists.

Membrane-electrode structures for molecular catalysts for use in fuel cells and other electrochemical devices

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Berkeley, CA, United States of America

Zulima Martin