Acetonitrile contamination in the cathode of proton exchange membrane fuel cells and cell performance recovery

Zhai, Yunfeng; St-Pierre, Jean

doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.03.086

Title: Acetonitrile contamination in the cathode of proton exchange membrane fuel cells and cell performance recovery

Journal Article · Fri Mar 15 00:00:00 EDT 2019 · Applied Energy

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.03.086· OSTI ID:1613260

^[1]; St-Pierre, Jean ^[1]

Univ. of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI (United States)

Acetonitrile contamination in an operating cell and performance recovery are investigated in detail by a series of electrochemical characterizations, including constant current operation, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, linear scanning voltammetry and chronoamperometry. We demonstrate that 20 ppm of acetonitrile in the air stream causes an approximate 40% reduction in cell performance at 1 A cm^-2; however, the neat air operation completely restores the single cell. Cell performance degradation and recovery display two distinguishable periods that correspond to the effect of catalyst activity and electrolyte proton conductivity, respectively. The potential effect on acetonitrile contamination is also studied in a non-operating H₂/N₂ cell. The results indicate that low and high potentials cause a larger proton conductivity effect than a medium potential. Two recovery methods were conducted to restore cell performance after contamination in N₂ at different potentials. The neat air operation completely mitigated the poisoning effect in approximately 5 h regardless of contamination history; however, the N₂ purge and subsequent potential scans, even scanning up to 1.5 V vs hydrogen reference electrode, did not affect the poisoned cell. The liquid water generated in catalyst layers may play an important role during the recovery from acetonitrile contamination in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell.

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Research Organization:: Univ. of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI (United States)

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

Grant/Contract Number:: EE0000467

OSTI ID:: 1613260

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1547630

Journal Information:: Applied Energy, Vol. 242; ISSN 0306-2619

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 5 works

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Title: Acetonitrile contamination in the cathode of proton exchange membrane fuel cells and cell performance recovery

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