Hydrogen Car 'Fuel Cell' Durability Increased 175 Times

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Junho] Domestic researchers have developed a new catalyst that suppresses the reverse voltage phenomenon occurring in the fuel cells of hydrogen electric vehicles. This catalyst is about 175 times stronger against the reverse voltage phenomenon compared to existing fuel cells, and it is expected to contribute to improving the durability of fuel cells.

The research team led by Professor Park Chan-ho of the Convergence Technology Interdisciplinary Department at Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology announced on the 22nd that they developed a multifunctional non-platinum catalyst with activity similar to platinum under acidic conditions, and the related paper was published in the international journal Journal of Materials Science & Technology.

The research team developed a catalyst that solves the reverse voltage problem of existing fuel cells by adjusting the iridium-ruthenium alloy ratio. This catalyst shows excellent performance in both hydrogen oxidation reaction and oxygen evolution reaction, while suppressing the reverse voltage phenomenon at the anode by preventing oxygen evolution or carbon corrosion when hydrogen fuel is insufficient.

When the research team applied this catalyst to the anode, they confirmed that it lasted more than 7 hours in durability evaluation of anode reverse voltage using hydrogen deficiency. This represents a durability improvement of 175 times compared to the existing platinum catalyst. The platinum catalyst could only withstand a short time of less than 10 minutes.

The reverse voltage phenomenon refers to the situation where the anode voltage becomes higher than the cathode voltage when hydrogen fuel is insufficient in the fuel cell, causing the voltages of both electrodes to reverse.

Professor Park Chan-ho said, "The significance of this research achievement lies in synthesizing the iridium-ruthenium alloy catalyst under acidic conditions and securing performance and anode durability in a single cell," adding, "We hope to find solutions to the oxidation problem of the iridium-ruthenium catalyst in the future and apply it to hydrogen electric commercial vehicles that require high durability."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.