Impact of heat and water management on proton exchange membrane fuel cells degradation in automotive application

• Published in: Journal of power sources 2016-09, Vol.326, p.182-192
• Main Authors: Nandjou, F., Poirot-Crouvezier, J.-P., Chandesris, M., Blachot, J.-F., Bonnaud, C., Bultel, Y.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Automotive conditions; Degradation; Engineering Sciences; Local humidity; Local temperature; PEMFC
• ISSN: 0378-7753; 1873-2755
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2016.07.004

In Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells, local temperature is a driving force for many degradation mechanisms such as hygrothermal deformation and creep of the membrane, platinum dissolution and bipolar plates corrosion. In order to investigate and quantify those effects in automotive application, durability testing is conducted in this work. During the ageing tests, the local performance and temperature are investigated using in situ measurements of a printed circuit board. At the end of life, post-mortem analyses of the aged components are conducted. The experimental results are compared with the simulated temperature and humidity in the cell obtained from a pseudo-3D multiphysics model in order to correlate the observed degradations to the local conditions inside the stack. The primary cause of failure in automotive cycling is pinhole/crack formation in the membrane, induced by high variations of its water content over time. It is also observed that water condensation largely increases the probability of the bipolar plates corrosion while evaporation phenomena induce local deposits in the cell. •2000 h PEM fuel cell stacks durability tests in automotive related conditions.•Local temperature and current measurements to study the degradation heterogeneities.•Membrane electrodes assemblies and bipolar plates post-mortem analyses.•Correlation between simulated water content and observed membrane degradations.•Impact of relative humidity on bipolar plates pollution and corrosion.