Comparative Study of the HOR Kinetics in Pemfc and Aemfc

The recent development of anion exchange membranes (AEMs) stable over hundreds of hours [1, 2] will open a new and large window to the development of anion exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs), if one refers to how findings on proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) increased following the discovery of Nafion membranes. The major advantage of AEMFCs over PEMFCs is the possibility to finally get rid o f the noble metal content in the electrodes, which actual ly t kes ≈ 50% of the total cost of a membrane electrode assembly for PEMFCs [3]. From an electrocatalysis v iew point, moving from an acid to an alkaline environme t will open a lot of challenges for the H 2/O2 electrodes. Similar to the focus that has been made over the la st decades on understanding the mechanism of the oxyge n reduction reaction and finding ways to reduce the t otal platinum content in the oxygen electrode, the advan ces on the hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) will play a p ivotal role in the coming years on the development of AEMF Cs.