CO Poisoning of Pt Electrode in PEM-PBI Based Membrane

Abstract

An experimental evaluation of a PBI membrane was conducted with a 2 and 5 % CO concentration to evaluate its impact on the cell performance. The test conditions consisted of variable temperature and fuel composition at atmospheric pressure. Baseline, pure-hydrogen, tests were conducted prior to CO exposure at each set of temperature studied. Post exposure of the CO-poisoned catalyst to pure hydrogen resulted in a restoration of the catalyst activity and further investigation on this is currently the subject of our ongoing studies. The mechanism resulting in the recovery of the CO-poisoned catalyst activity will be briefly discussed based on the test results.