Current carbon black materials used as cathode supports in proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells tend to quickly corrode and break down in highly acidic environments, which leads to rapid decrease of efficiency and lifetime. A possible alternative to these cathode supports could be substituted tin(IV) and titanium(IV) oxides. These rutile-structure compounds are acid-resistant, non-toxic and low cost. However, their low electrical conductivity must be enhanced by transition metals dopants using chemical vapor transport (CVT) and sol-gel methods. The dopants used were tungsten, niobium, silicon, vanadium, tantalum, manganese, iron, zirconium, yttrium, cobalt, cerium, europium and chromium. The synthesized compounds were characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence and resistivity tests. Produced crystalline compounds were also analyzed and characterized with use of single crystal X-ray crystallography.

Improvement of PEM fuel cells: The synthesis of transition metal doped tin and titanium dioxide

247th National Meeting (2014)

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