Anode defects’ propagation in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

Does the platinum-loading in proton-exchange membrane fuel cell cathodes influence the durability of the membrane-electrode assembly?

“…The MEAs studied in this work were home-made and based on commercial components: a reinforced PFSA membrane (MX 820.15 from Gore), gas diffusion layer (GDL) from Sigracet (ref. 22 BB) at both anode and cathode sides and Vulcan carbon (XC72; Cabot) supported Pt nanoparticles from Tanaka (50 wt% Pt, TEC10V50E) in both catalytic layers (CL) mixed with Nafion® D2020 ionomer solution. The anode and cathode CL inks were prepared similarly to a previous work of the authors: 45 briefly, the electrocatalyst was mixed with ultrapure water and ethanol with 0.24 ethanol : water mass ratio.…”

“…More details about the segmented PEMFC characteristics and operating conditions are available in ref. 22, 29, 30 and 46 with another geometry or 31 with that specific cell geometry.…”

“…Since a segmented electrochemical cell was applied for the degradation studies, 22,[28][29][30][31] it was possible to track the local ECSA (and local current density) changes for all of the 20 segments along the gas channel. It is recalled here that segment #1 corresponds to the air inlet at the cathode and H 2 outlet at the anode, while segment #20 corresponds to the air outlet at the cathode and H 2 inlet at the anode.…”

“…MEAs containing different Pt loadings in the cathodic CLs are prepared using a commercial Pt/Vulcan XC72 catalyst and assembled with a given state-of-the-art membrane, given gas diffusion layers (GDL) and a given anode composition and loading. These MEAs are tested with a home-made (very degrading) accelerated stress test consisting of multiple stressors (current density/potential and relative humidity cycling and OCV hold 21,22 ) aiming at degrading the electrodes (i.e. carbon support, catalyst, and possibly the ionomer), and the membrane.…”

Local ageing effects of polymer electrolyte fuel cell membrane electrode assemblies due to accelerated durability testing

“…Numerous studies in the literature have shown that such heterogeneities have a significant impact on ageing at multiple scales. Most studies are focused on inhomogeneous aging along the channel, both at single cell level [19–24] and at stack level [25–28]. Most heterogeneities were found when performing start‐up and shut‐down events.…”