Abstract
We know that polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) can't run for a long time without humidification. As nafion membrane's function deteriorates when hydrogen ions go through in the dried electrodes,we operated PEFC by two methods for a long time. One is a method to apply the water-soluble macromolecule that is Methyl cellulose (MC) to the surface of PEFC. Another is supply the humidified hydrogen in PEFC. We investigate that a cause of the decreasing output is the platinum catalyst of the electrode particles. It is observed that the particle size of the platinum have increased after operation compared with before operation. Also, the platinum catalyst size distribution supported on acetylene change from uniform to non-uniform. In addition to them, we confirm the resolution of MC which apply to the surface of PEFC by STEM.
As the result, it was the confirmation that output decrease by particle size and distribution of the platinum catalysts.
