PhD Defence | Platinum Group Metal-Free Catalyst and Catalyst Layer Design for PEM Fuel Cells, by Pan Xu

Friday, December 6, 2019 9:00 am - 9:00 am EST (GMT -05:00)

You are welcome to attend Pan Xu's PhD defence, in which they will discuss their research into platinum group metal-free (PGM-free) catalyst synthesis for the oxygen reduction reaction in proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells.

Abstract

The thesis focuses on platinum group metal-free (PGM-free) catalyst synthesis for the oxygen reduction reaction in proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. Different methodologies have been tried to prepare the catalysts.

We've been able to successfully synthesize PGM-free catalysts with high ORR activity in half-cell testings, and remarkable performance in a PEM fuel cell. Testing parameter study and MEA optimization were conducted to get a more comprehensive understanding of the fuel cell and achieve better performance.

Supervisor: Professor Zhongwei Chen