In situ mapping of potential transients during start-up and shut-down of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell

Brightman, Edward; Hinds, Gareth

doi:10.1016/j.jpowsour.2014.05.040

Cited by 76 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Meanwhile, the same phenomenon was also recently observed and researched by Plug Power Inc. In addition, many researchers studied the influence of the operating parameters including humidity, cell temperature, flow rate, and flow field design on the degradation rate of PEMFCs [224][225][226]. …”

Section: Startup/shutdown Processessupporting

confidence: 57%

Recent Progress on the Key Materials and Components for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells in Vehicle Applications

Wang

Peng

et al. 2016

Energies

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Fuel cells are the most clean and efficient power source for vehicles. In particular, proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are the most promising candidate for automobile applications due to their rapid start-up and low-temperature operation. Through extensive global research efforts in the latest decade, the performance of PEMFCs, including energy efficiency, volumetric and mass power density, and low temperature startup ability, have achieved significant breakthroughs. In 2014, fuel cell powered vehicles were introduced into the market by several prominent vehicle companies. However, the low durability and high cost of PEMFC systems are still the main obstacles for large-scale industrialization of this technology. The key materials and components used in PEMFCs greatly affect their durability and cost. In this review, the technical progress of key materials and components for PEMFCs has been summarized and critically discussed, including topics such as the membrane, catalyst layer, gas diffusion layer, and bipolar plate. The development of high-durability processing technologies is also introduced. Finally, this review is concluded with personal perspectives on the future research directions of this area.

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Section: Startup/shutdown Processessupporting

confidence: 57%

Recent Progress on the Key Materials and Components for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells in Vehicle Applications

Wang

Peng

et al. 2016

Energies

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“…There have been many articles that focus on PEFC durability in start‐up and shut‐down cycles, including a comprehensive Review on this matter by Yu et al . Various approaches have been made to analyze the intermediate states experimentally in situ, for example, by using segmented FCs or a gas‐distribution setup to find local differences in carbon corrosion, by measuring the amount of CO and CO 2 as reaction products of the carbon corrosion by using mass spectrometry and FTIR, a dual‐cell configuration to physically separate Regions A and B, or a reference‐electrode method to separately measure anode and cathode potentials . Measured or theoretically predicted cathode potentials vary over a range of about 1.2–1.75 V; but, in all of those reported cases, the cathode potentials are always higher than the open‐circuit voltage (OCV), resulting in the conditions facilitating carbon corrosion and PEFC performance loss.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

In Situ Techniques to Study the Effects of Anode or Cathode Gas‐Exchange Cycles on the Deterioration of Pt/C Cathode Catalysts in PEFCs

et al. 2015

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Repeated, quick anode gas‐exchange (AGEX) or cathode gas‐exchange (CGEX) cycles were applied to polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) with Pt/C cathode catalysts to simulate start‐up/shut‐down conditions and to examine a possible countermeasure for their effects on MEA cathode catalyst degradation. The peak height of the white line during in situ time‐resolved X‐ray absorption near‐edge structure (XANES) spectra at the Pt LIII‐edge decreased with an increasing number of AGEX cycles and only in the top region of the MEA cathode layer (close to the gas inlet of the fuel cell), not in the whole MEA area. End‐of‐life analysis after AGEX by using SEM and TEM revealed isolated Pt nanoparticles in micro‐cracks and voids produced in the top region of the MEA cathode layer. The nanoparticle sizes remained almost unchanged for top, middle, and bottom regions of the MEA cathode layer. In the case of CGEX, a small increase in the Pt nanoparticle sizes in the top and bottom positions of the MEA cathode layer was observed. These findings support the role of carbon corrosion, leaving isolated, electrochemically inactive Pt nanoparticles as a consequence of the harsh reaction conditions caused by the reverse current decay mechanism during the start‐up/shut‐down phase, as in the case of AGEX cycles, to be the main cause for the cathode catalyst deterioration close to the anode gas inlet. On the other hand, the hydrogen gas feed to both the anode and cathode during start‐up and shut‐down processes seems to effectively suppress carbon corrosion and prevents a decrease in the performance.

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“…Brightman et al revealed a significant mitigation of carbon corrosion with the application of the dummy load under all conditions, especially during the shut‐down procedure. The utilization of dummy load reduces the residence time of H 2 /air boundary and decreases the cathode potential.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison Between the Constant Dummy Load and Step Load Shut‐Down Strategy for PEMFCs

et al. 2018

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Carbon corrosion of catalyst layer (CL) caused by start‐up/shut‐down (SU/SD) conditions in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) decreases the durability of the membrane electrode assembly (MEA). It is reported that the dummy load shut‐down strategy helps alleviating the carbon corrosion. In this paper, constant load strategy and step load strategy are applied during 900 SU/SD cycles each, to investigate the effects of different dummy load forms on the durability of PEMFC. Reversal current is observed during the last phase of 5 A constant loading process, while there is no reversal current during the step load strategy. The results obtained through polarization curves, cyclic voltammetry (CV) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) technologies, prove the step load strategy more efficient to alleviate the performance decay. Therefore, the step load strategy can improve the durability of PEMFC.

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In situ mapping of potential transients during start-up and shut-down of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell

Cited by 76 publications

References 13 publications

Recent Progress on the Key Materials and Components for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells in Vehicle Applications

Recent Progress on the Key Materials and Components for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells in Vehicle Applications

In Situ Techniques to Study the Effects of Anode or Cathode Gas‐Exchange Cycles on the Deterioration of Pt/C Cathode Catalysts in PEFCs

Comparison Between the Constant Dummy Load and Step Load Shut‐Down Strategy for PEMFCs

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