Hydrogen Oxidation Reaction in a Pt-Catalyzed Gas Diffusion Electrode in Alkaline Medium

Abstract

The oxidation of H 2 to water on commercial platinum catalyzed carbon-polytetrafluoroethylene gas diffusion electrode (GDE) has been studied in deoxygenated aqueous solutions with KOH concentrations in the range 1.0-6.0 mol dm -3. The H 2O|H 2 couple behaves reversibly in open circuit, closely following the Nernst equation. A semiempirical equation in agreement with a Tafel-Volmer mechanism, accounting for diffusion, adsorption, inhibition, charge transfer, and ohmic-type drop in the wetted electrode pores, has been developed to quantitatively explain the steady-state linear sweep voltammograms for the different media, temperatures, and feeding hydrogen partial pressures tested. Charge transfer is also slow at high overpotentials except for 1.0 mol dm -3 KOH. The micropolarization in the current-potential region around the reversible potential has been interpreted considering the Tafel reaction as the rate-determining step. The decay in exchange current density and the increase in activation energy both, at the reversible potential and high overpotentials, with raising KOH concentration has been ascribed to the increasing blocking and energetic effect of adsorbed hydroxyl species. The results of the activation energies suggest that the reactive Pt(110) faces are dominant in the dispersed Pt particles of the GDE. © 2005 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.