Evaluation of the Performance of Platinum Plated Titanium Porous Transport Layer for PEM Water Electrolysis

Abstract

The performance of titanium（Ti）fibers with different platinum（Pt）plating thicknesses as the anode side porous transport layer（PTL）for proton exchange membrane water electrolysis（PEMWE）has been evaluated. Their mechanical strength in the thickness direction was about twice better than the carbon paper. Single-cell performance based on i-V measurements showed that Pt plating on Ti fibers contributed to the improvement of cell performance with the best i-V performance at a Pt plating thickness of 0.5μm. This is due not only to the reduction in contact resistance with the effect of the Pt plating, but also to the reduction in charge transfer resistance due to the high oxygen evolution reaction activity of Pt.