Modeling the Effect of Low Pt loading Cathode Catalyst Layer in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells: Part I. Model Formulation and Validation

A model for the cathode catalyst layer (CL) is presented, which validated with previous experimental data in terms of both performance and oxygen transport resistance. The includes a 1D macroscopic description proton, electron across CL thickness, locally coupled to microscopic that describes toward Pt sites. Oxygen from channel ionic membrane are incorporated through integral boundary conditions. complemented effective electrochemical properties extracted multiple works. results show contribution thin ionomer film Pt/ionomer interface increases inverse roughness factor. Whereas water water/ionomer ratio between geometric area surface active ionomer. Moreover, it found CLs diluted bare carbon provide lower than non-diluted samples due their larger local Optimized design good distribution overall flux among sites critical reduce mass losses at low loading.