Electrochemical analysis of hydrogen membrane fuel cells with amorphous zirconium phosphate thin film electrolyte

Abstract

An electrochemical analysis was conducted with respect to a hydrogen membrane fuel cell (HMFC) comprising proton-conducting, amorphous zirconium phosphate, a-ZrP2.5O8.9H1.3, thin film electrolyte supported on a dense Pd anode. The HMFC gave rise to an OCV of 1.0V, but the maximum power density was limited and was about 1 mW cm-2 at 400°C. The impedance spectroscopy revealed that the interfacial polarizations were decreased by two orders of magnitude when the cell configuration was changed from the fuel cell setup to the hydrogen concentration cell with an anode symmetric configuration. These results indicated that the polarization losses at the solid-solid anode interface are not a main contribution to the voltage loss of the HMFC. The large cathode polarization might be attributed to the lessened conductivity of amorphous zirconium phosphate electrolyte thin film formed on a precious metal electrode.