The effects of mass transport and kinetics have been separated by analysis of the flow rate dependence of the current for formic acid oxidation at fuel cell electrodes in a flow-through cell. The mass transport limiting current was reached when a carbon supported Pd catalyst was used, which allowed the power of the flow rate dependence to be determined. Simulation of the flow rate dependence of the current in the mixed kinetic-mass transport region then allowed the electron transfer rate constant and kinetic current to be determined as a function of potential. Comparison of Tafel plots for the Pd electrode and a Pt black electrode demonstrated that the superior activity of Pd was primarily due to its lower Tafel slope. The flow-through cell geometry allows measurements to be made on fuel cell electrodes at high current densities, and provides kinetic parameters that are not influenced by diffusion of the reactant into the catalyst layer.

通过分析流通电池中燃料电池电极上甲酸氧化电流的流速依赖性，已经分离了质量传输和动力学的影响。当使用碳负载的Pd催化剂时，达到了传质极限电流，从而确定了流速依赖性的功率。然后，通过模拟混合动质量传输区域中电流对流速的依赖性，可以确定电子传递速率常数和动电流作为电势的函数。Pd电极和Pt黑色电极的Tafel图比较表明，Pd的出色活性主要归因于其较低的Tafel斜率。流通池的几何形状允许在高电流密度下在燃料电池电极上进行测量，