Experimental investigation on the performance and durability of hydrogen AEMFC with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy

Abstract

Summary In situ experimental tests and scanning electron microscope (SEM) observations are done to explore the impact of geometry structure and operating conditions on the performance and durability of alkaline electrolyte membrane fuel cell (AEMFC) accompanied by electrochemical diagnosis. The results show that low anode and cathode polarization resistances can be achieved by selecting a proper ionomer mass fraction (IMF) of the catalyst layer (CL). Increasing the IMF can improve the tolerance to inlet gas humidity. The presence of the anode microporous layer (MPL) greatly improves the cell performance, but cathode MPL plays a reverse effect. After the durability test, the homogeneity of CL is seriously deformed, leading to a great increment of anode and cathode polarization resistances, verified by the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and SEM results. An enhancement of fuel cell durability is achieved by adding nanoscale polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) into CL. This work can provide some guidance for the structural and operating parameter optimization of the AEMFC researches in the future.

A comprehensive review on water management strategies and developments in anion exchange membrane fuel cells

“…shows voltage and power density data under different MPL configurations namely MPL at both anode and cathode (ACMPL), MPL only at anode (AMPL), MPL only at cathode (CMPL) and no MPL. From the results presented in the figure, one can notice that inclusion of AMPL delivered highest power while inclusion of CMPL delivered lowest power supporting the fact that removal of water atanode and maintaining adequate hydration at cathode were crucial to achieve high performance in AEMFC[67].…”

Application of a novel PUB enhanced semi‐interpenetrating chitosan‐based anion exchange membrane

“…As seen in the image, the CS/PAADDA/PUB membrane showed a peak power density of 38.1 mW cm −2 at the maximum current density of 73.2 mA cm −2 . The peak power density is comparable to or higher than those of the imidazolium-type ionic liquid-based membrane (30 mWÁcm −2 at room temperature), 66 the quaternized chitosan membrane (23 mW cm −2 at 50 C), 53 the CS/EMImC-Co-EP-OH − membrane (21.7 mW cm −2 at room temperature), 22 the PV/CS-HDT-20 wt% membrane (15 mW cm −2 at 40 C), 67 the PAEK-g-[PBVIm-OH]-0.25 membrane (22 mW cm −2 at 60 C), 68 but is lower than those of the QA sIPN-70/30 membrane (about 80 mW cm −2 at 35 C), 10 the QPSU/ NH 4 HF 2 -Ti 3 C 2 T x membrane (47 mW cm −2 at 30 C), 69 the A901 membrane (APTFE, IMF = 0.25; 103 mW cm −2 at 50 C), 70 and the sIPN-62/30 membrane (110.6 mW cm −2 at 60 C). 13 Hence, many aspects, for instance, membrane composition, cross-linking manners, and MEA fabrication techniques have to be improved to strengthen the performance of single-cell testing.…”

Recent Insights on Catalyst Layers for Anion Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

“…As is well known, the ORR in the cathode consumes H 2 O, which easily leads to local drying‐out of the cathode, especially under high current densities and low cell potential. [ 41 ] Based on the above considerations, the operating conditions [ 37 ] (gas flow rate, cell temperature, and relative humidity) and GDE structure [ 42 ] (hydrophilicity, MPL, and GDL) must be optimized, which will be introduced in the following sections.…”

“…[ 43 ] Another study evaluated the effect of MPLs to determine the characteristics of water management on both the abode and cathode. [ 42 ] Compared with the cathode MPL (CMPL) case, the anode MPL (AMPL) showed the best performance under all humidity conditions, indicating that the AMPL effectively enhanced water transport from the anode to cathode across the AEM. The absence of a CMPL would further reduce the diffusion resistance of water into the CL from the flow channels.…”