PERFORMANCE DATA OF A PROTON-EXCHANGE MEMBRANE FUEL-CELL USING H-2 COAS FUEL GAS/

The performance of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) was ev aluated at 80 degrees C in H-2 with defined amounts of CO (25 to 250 p pm) and pure oxygen. Membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) were made us ing Nafion(TM) 117 with carbon-supported dispersed Pt, Pt0.7Ru0.3, and Pt0.5Ru0.5 as anode catalysts, and Pt as a cathode catalyst. For comp arison the MEAs were first characterized in H-2//O-2. In H-2/CO//O-2 s teady-state current-voltage curves were obtained after a poisoning per iod. It was found that the performance of the cell depends strongly on the do concentration and the anode catalyst used. For Pt0.5Ru0.5 as a node catalyst, the maximum power density in H-2/CO//O-2 was enhanced b y a factor of four compared with a Pt anode catalyst. Using Pt0.5Ru0.5 no difference in power density was found between pure H-2 and H-2/100 ppm CO up to current densities of about 0.4 A cm(-2).