Hydrogen Oxidation on Gas Diffusion Electrodes for Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cells in the Presence of Carbon Monoxide and Oxygen

Hydrogen oxidation has been studied on a carbon-supported platinum gas diffusion electrode in a phosphoric acidelectrolyte in the presence of carbon monoxide and oxygen in the feed gas. The poisoning effect of carbon monoxide presentin the feed gas was measured in the temperature range from 80 to 150°C.

It was found that throughout the temperaturerange, the potential loss due to the CO poisoning can be reduced to a great extent by the injection of small amounts ofgaseous oxygen into the hydrogen gas containing carbon monoxide. By adding 5 volume percent (v/o) oxygen, an almostCO-free performance can be obtained for carbon monoxide concentrations up to 0.5 v/o CO at 130°C, 0.2 v/o CO at 100°C,and 0.1 v/o CO at 80°C, respectively.