Impacts of electrode coating irregularities on polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell lifetime using quasi in-situ infrared thermography and accelerated stress testing

doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2018.02.050

Title: Impacts of electrode coating irregularities on polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell lifetime using quasi in-situ infrared thermography and accelerated stress testing

Abstract

In-line quality control diagnostics for roll-to-roll (R2R) manufacturing techniques will play a key role in the future commercialization of the polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) used in automotive applications. These diagnostics monitor the fabrication of the membrane electrode assembly (MEA), which detect and flag any non-uniformity that may potentially harm PEMFC performance and/or lifetime. This will require quantitative thresholds and a clear distinction between harmful defects and harmless coating irregularities. Thus, novel fuel cell hardware with quasi in-situ infrared (IR) thermography capabilities is utilized to understand how bare spots in the cathode electrode impact MEA lifetime. An accelerated stress test (AST) simulates chemical and mechanical degradation modes seen in vehicular operation. The actual open circuit voltage and rate of change of this voltage are used as in-situ indicators for MEA failure, enabling capture of the progression of failure point development. Bare spot coating irregularities located at the center of the electrode were found to have no impact on MEA lifetime when compared to a pristine MEA. However, MEA lifetime was found to be considerably shortened when these same irregularities are located at the cathode inlet and, especially, the anode inlet regions of the fuel cell.

Authors:

Phillips, Adam ^[1]; Ulsh, Michael ^[2]; Neyerlin, K. C. ^[2]; Porter, Jason ^[3]; Bender, Guido ^[2]

National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States)
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States)

Publication Date:: 2018-03-02

Research Org.:: National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Program (EE-3F); USDOE

OSTI Identifier:: 1426642

Alternate Identifier(s):: OSTI ID: 1496283

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-5900-70934
Journal ID: ISSN 0360-3199

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

Resource Type:: Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:: International Journal of Hydrogen Energy

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Volume: 43; Journal Issue: 12; Journal ID: ISSN 0360-3199

Publisher:: Elsevier

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; coating irregularities; PEMFC; manufacturing; infrared thermography; accelerated stress test; defects

Citation Formats


                    Phillips, Adam, Ulsh, Michael, Neyerlin, K. C., Porter, Jason, and Bender, Guido. Impacts of electrode coating irregularities on polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell lifetime using quasi in-situ infrared thermography and accelerated stress testing.  United States: N. p., 2018. 
        Web.  doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2018.02.050.

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                    Phillips, Adam, Ulsh, Michael, Neyerlin, K. C., Porter, Jason, & Bender, Guido. Impacts of electrode coating irregularities on polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell lifetime using quasi in-situ infrared thermography and accelerated stress testing.  United States.  doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2018.02.050.

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                    Phillips, Adam, Ulsh, Michael, Neyerlin, K. C., Porter, Jason, and Bender, Guido. Fri .  
        "Impacts of electrode coating irregularities on polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell lifetime using quasi in-situ infrared thermography and accelerated stress testing".  United States.  doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2018.02.050.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1426642.

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@article{osti_1426642,

  title        = {Impacts of electrode coating irregularities on polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell lifetime using quasi in-situ infrared thermography and accelerated stress testing},

  author       = {Phillips, Adam and Ulsh, Michael and Neyerlin, K. C. and Porter, Jason and Bender, Guido},

  abstractNote = {In-line quality control diagnostics for roll-to-roll (R2R) manufacturing techniques will play a key role in the future commercialization of the polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) used in automotive applications. These diagnostics monitor the fabrication of the membrane electrode assembly (MEA), which detect and flag any non-uniformity that may potentially harm PEMFC performance and/or lifetime. This will require quantitative thresholds and a clear distinction between harmful defects and harmless coating irregularities. Thus, novel fuel cell hardware with quasi in-situ infrared (IR) thermography capabilities is utilized to understand how bare spots in the cathode electrode impact MEA lifetime. An accelerated stress test (AST) simulates chemical and mechanical degradation modes seen in vehicular operation. The actual open circuit voltage and rate of change of this voltage are used as in-situ indicators for MEA failure, enabling capture of the progression of failure point development. Bare spot coating irregularities located at the center of the electrode were found to have no impact on MEA lifetime when compared to a pristine MEA. However, MEA lifetime was found to be considerably shortened when these same irregularities are located at the cathode inlet and, especially, the anode inlet regions of the fuel cell.},

  doi          = {10.1016/j.ijhydene.2018.02.050},

  journal      = {International Journal of Hydrogen Energy},

  number       = 12,

  volume       = 43,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {2018},

  month        = {3}

}

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Journal Article:

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DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2018.02.050

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Figures / Tables:

Figure 1: Relative dew point temperatures of the anode during humidification cycling for (A) coflow and (B) counter-flow operation under AST operating conditions. The (C) HFR under AST operating conditions in a H₂/N₂ environment for co-flow and counter-flow operation.

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