Electrochemical investigation of stainless steel corrosion in a proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cell

Mo, Jingke; Steen, Stuart M.; Zhang, Feng-Yuan; Toops, Todd J.; Brady, Michael P.; Green, Johney B.

doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2015.07.061

Title: Electrochemical investigation of stainless steel corrosion in a proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cell

Journal Article · Wed Aug 05 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · International Journal of Hydrogen Energy

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2015.07.061· OSTI ID:1213323

Mo, Jingke ^[1]; Steen, Stuart M. ^[1];

^[1]; Toops, Todd J. ^[2]; Brady, Michael P. ^[2]; Green, Johney B. ^[2]

Univ. of Tennessee Space Inst. (UTSI), Tullahoma, TN (United States). Nanodynamics and High-Efficiency Lab for Propulsion and Power, Department of Mechanical, Aerospace & Biomedical Engineering
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

The lack of a fundamental understanding of the corrosion mechanisms in the electrochemical environments of proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer and/or fuel cells (ECs/FCs) has seriously hindered the improvement of performance and efficiency of PEM ECs/FCs. In this study, a stainless steel mesh was purposely used as an anode gas diffusion layer that was intentionally operated with high positive potentials under harsh oxidative environments in a PEMEC to study the corrosion mechanism of metal migration. A significant amount of iron and nickel cations were determined to transport through the anode catalyst layer, the PEM and the cathode catalyst layer during the PEMEC operation. The formation/deposition of iron oxide and nickel oxide on the carbon paper gas diffusion layer at the cathode side is first revealed by both scanning electron microscope and X-ray diffraction. The results indicate the corrosion elements of iron and nickel are transported from anode to cathode through the catalyst-coated membrane, and deposited on carbon fibers as oxides. This phenomenon could also open a new corrosion-based processing approach to potentially fabricate multifunctional oxide structures on carbon fiber devices. This study has demonstrated a new accelerated test method for investigating the corrosion and durability of metallic materials as well.

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Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Fuels, Engines and Emissions Research Center (FEERC); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). National Transportation Research Center (NTRC)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Transportation Office. Fuel Cell Technologies Office

Grant/Contract Number:: FE0011585; EE0000276; AC05-00OR22725

OSTI ID:: 1213323

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1247879

Journal Information:: International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 40, Issue 36; ISSN 0360-3199

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 44 works

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Degradation in photoelectrochemical devices: review with an illustrative case study Nandjou, Fredy; Haussener, Sophia Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, Vol. 50, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6463/aa5b11	journal	February 2017
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