Polyaniline-derived Non-Precious Catalyst for the Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell Cathode

A novel polyaniline (PANI)-derived non-precious cathode catalyst was developed in this work, exhibiting remarkable activity (onset potential: 0.9 V, half-wave potential: 0.77 V) and selectivity (0.4 % H20 2 at 0.4 V). As a result, the generated current densities at high voltages associated with electrochemically kinetic activity can be achieved to 0.04 Acm-2 for 0.80V and 0.21 Acm-2 for 0.6 V, when air was used in fuel cell tests. MEA life test at a constant voltage of 0.4 V demonstrated a promising stability up to 450 hours, without obvious degradation. The current density during the test was measured around 0.32 A cm-2, a respectable performance for a cell with non-precious cathode, operated on air rather than oxygen. The possible active sites, related to pyridine- and pyrrole-like metal species were discussed according to presented XPS and XRD analysis.