Investigation of the carbon corrosion process for polymer electrolyte fuel cells using a rotating disk electrode technique

The carbon corrosion process of low surface area Pt/XC72 and high surface area Pt/BP2000 was investigated using an accelerated durability testing method under simulated fuel cell conditions (a rotating disk electrode approach). A steam etching experiment was also carried out for further understanding of the carbon corrosion process for XC72 and BP2000. It was observed that different carbon corrosion processes resulted in different performance (electrochemical active surface area, mass activity, and double layer capacity) decays of catalysts. The corrosion process was studied using transmission electron microscopy. In Pt/XC72, major corrosion occurred at the center of the Pt/XC72 particle, with some minor corrosion on the surface of the carbon particle removing some amorphously structured carbon black filaments, whereas in Pt/BP2000, the corrosion started on the surface. © 2010 The Electrochemical Society.