Impact of Nonuniform Platinum Loading Distribution Design in the Catalyst Layer on the High-Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Performance

High-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFCs) are efficient and environmentally friendly energy conversion devices, and the performance and cost of the cells are influenced by the platinum loading in the catalytic layer. In this study, finite element analysis was used to determine the effective reaction thickness of the anode and cathode catalytic layers and to propose a novel platinum loading distribution to reduce costs while ensuring the cell performance. The research results indicate that platinum loading has a significant impact on the cell performance, particularly at the cathode. Furthermore, adopting higher platinum loading in the effective reaction thickness region and lower loading in the noneffective reaction thickness region can effectively reduce the platinum usage while maintaining the fuel cell performance. Specifically, when the platinum loading is 0.30 mg/cm2 in the effective reaction thickness region and 0.025 mg/cm2 in the noneffective reaction thickness region, the cell performance remains unchanged, and the total platinum usage decreases by 46%. This provides valuable insights into the design of catalytic layers in HT-PEMFCs.