A polymer electrolyte fuel cell life test using accelerating degradation technique

Durability is one of the major barriers to proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) being accepted as a commercially viable product. It is therefore important to understand the degradation phenomena of MEA (membrane electrode assembly) in PEMFCs and analyze degradation mechanisms. This study ado...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of hydrogen energy 2013-08, Vol.38 (25), p.11011-11016
Main Authors: Liu, Mingyang, Wang, Cheng, Xie, Fucheng, Mao, Zongqiang
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accelerating degradation technique
Alternative fuels. Production and utilization
Applied sciences
Degradation
Durability
Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy
Energy
Exact sciences and technology
Failure
Fuel cells
Fuels
Hydrogen
MEA degradation
Membranes
Polytetrafluoroethylenes
Proton exchange membrane fuel cells
Voltammetry
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Durability is one of the major barriers to proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) being accepted as a commercially viable product. It is therefore important to understand the degradation phenomena of MEA (membrane electrode assembly) in PEMFCs and analyze degradation mechanisms. This study adopted the accelerating degradation technique to analyze durability of PTFE/Nafion MEA using the Taiwan HS-150 fuel cell tester and MEA/Stack Durability Protocol developed by the Fuel Cell Technical Team (FCTT) of the FreedomCAR and Fuel Partnership. The experimental process for the MEA degradation contains dry/wet and load cycling. During durability test of the MEA, the polarization curve, cyclic voltammetry (CV), linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) are used for diagnosing state of the MEA. The experimental results show that failure of the proton exchange membrane is the decisive factor leading to the end-of-life of the MEA and the electrochemical reaction micro-structural damage of catalytic layer is the decisive factor of the performance degradation and stability deteriorates. ► A PEMFC life test using the newest accelerating degradation technique. ► Durability decay rate of the PEMFC is about 0.48 mV/h at 100 mA/cm2. ► Pinhole of the electrolyte membrane is a decisive factor leading to MEA failure. ► The change of catalyst layer is a major factor of MEA performance degradation.
ISSN:0360-3199
1879-3487
DOI:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2013.02.086