Development of Low Cost High-Temperature Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell Membrane-Electrode-Assemblies for Combined Heat and Power Plants in Single-Family Homes

The stationary use of high-temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cells allows the efficient decentralized production of electricity and heat at customer site. In order to reduce the production cost of such devices, platinum-cobalt based catalysts were synthesized directly at the surface of gas diffusion electrodes with a lower overall precious metal loading than comparable, commercially available state-of-the-art electrodes without impairing the overall fuel cell performance. The prepared membrane-electrode-assemblies showed high durability in single cell and stack tests.