Background
A water-repellent organosilane coating is applied to carbon-black catalyst supports to address corrosion in fuel cells. Cell measurements and carbon-dioxide evolution tests examine mass transport and corrosion resistance.
What the study found
A water-repellent DTS coating on carbon black is tested as a way to limit water contact and corrosion in platinum catalyst supports.
The reported tests link improved mass transfer and corrosion resistance, without platinum poisoning, to carbon-dioxide evolution and fuel-cell measurements.
Questions and limits
A question for further study is whether the accelerated-test benefits persist through start–stop cycling and prolonged operation.
How to compare the results
Compare platinum loading and active area, humidity, potential-hold conditions and gas flow, while separating the causes of voltage loss.
Related reading
Corrosion Mechanism and Mitigation Strategies for Carbon Supports in PEMFCs
The related review’s registered abstract connects support corrosion, mass transfer and the stability of low-platinum catalyst layers. It provides background for this surface-coating approach.
The review does not add long-duration validation of the DTS coating used here.
Abstract-based introductionRESEARCH NEWS
Research in the news
Sources used in this summary
The research account draws on the abstract, introduction and selected corrosion and polarization results in the author-hosted published article. It is not a complete article or supplementary-material review.