This work presents a CO tolerance study of PtMo/C (70:30, Pt:Mo) and Pt/MoO2-C anode catalysts on proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) with Nafion® and Aquivion® ionomer membranes. Results denote improved activity for the hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) in the presence of CO on both anode catalysts at 85 ºC. Experiments of identical location transmission electron microscopy evidenced very good stability of the Pt particles along an accelerate stress test (AST) applied to the Mo-based anode catalysts. However, a crossover of degradation Mo products originated in the anode and going to the cathode takes place along this anode AST, causing a PEMFC performance decay. A very little effect of the nature of the membrane, Nafion® or Aquivion®, is observed over these crossover phenomena. Results also denote that when operating at appropriate high temperatures (105 ºC for Nafion® and 125 ºC for Aquivion®), there is no need of incorporating unstable oxophilic transition metals on Pt to achieve improved CO tolerance on PEMFCs, when the CO level in the hydrogen fed is of the order of 100 ppm.

Researchers have developed new catalysts for fuel cells (FC), whose performances are compared after applying different normalization procedures. However, there is not a standard procedure. The current produced from CO electrooxidation was compared for Pt4Ru5Sn1/C and homemade Pt/C nanoparticles (NPs) normalized by different methods and the use of different methods renders different interpretations. Since the whole field aims to maximize the cost-effectiveness, a complementary method to normalize currents and power in terms of the total cost of the nanocatalyst, the Catalyst-based Cost method (CbC), was proposed. CbC considers the cost of all metals employed to build the catalyst, not only those ones with available surfaces. By applying a simple smoothing method on the prices in a time series, we were able to forecast the prices and consequently the power density of a FC. CbC provides tools for industrials forecast the designing of nanomaterials with improved efficiency and low cost.