Performance Evaluation of Platinum Dispersed Self-humidifying Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Prepared by Using RF Magnetron Sputter

The performance evaluation on Pt loading in the self-humidifying polymer electrolyte membrane for Polymer Electrolyte Mem-Brane Fuel Cell(PEMFC) was investigated by using single cell test and measurement of membrane resistance. The self-humidifying membrane comprised two membranes made of perfluorosulfonylfluroride copolymer resin and fine Pt particles tying between them, coated by sputtering. From the results of performance characteristics of self-humidifying membrane cell with different Pt loading, a single cell using self-humidifying membrane with 0.15 mg/$\textrm{cm}^2$ Pt loading showed better performance than that with the others over entire current density. Also, a single cell with 0.15 mg/$\textrm{cm}^2$ Pt loading had a lower resistance value than the other cells under externally nonhumidifying condition. It is indicated that the water produced in the membrane cell with 0.15 mg/$\textrm{cm}^2$ Pt loading showed a higher provision to maintain ionic conductivity of the membrane than the other cells. The optimum amount of Pt particles embedded in the membrane for self-humidifying PEMFC was determined to be about 0.15 mg/$\textrm{cm}^2$.