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Title: Carbon Corrosion in PEM Fuel Cells and the Development of Accelerated Stress Tests

Abstract

Carbon corrosion is an important degradation mechanism that can impair PEMFC performance through the destruction of catalyst connectivity, collapse of the electrode pore structure, loss of hydrophobic character, and an increase of the catalyst particle size. In this study, carbon corrosion was quantified in situ by measurement of carbon dioxide in the fuel cell exhaust gases through non-dispersive infrared spectroscopy during simulated drive cycle operations consisting of potential cycling with varying upper and lower potential limits. These studies were conducted for three different types of carbon supports. A reduction in the catalyst layer thickness was observed during a simulated drive cycle operation with a concomitant decrease in catalyst layer porosity, which led to performance losses due to increased mass transport limitations. The observed thickness reduction was primarily due to compaction of the catalyst layer, with the actual mass of carbon oxidation (loss) contributing only a small fraction (< 20%). The dynamics of carbon corrosion are presented along with a model that simulates the transient and dynamic corrosion rates observed in our experiments. Accelerated carbon corrosion stress tests are presented and their effects are compared to those observed for the drive cycle test.

Authors:
ORCiD logo; ; ; ; ; ORCiD logo; ORCiD logo; ORCiD logo;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Sustainable Transportation Office. Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities Division
Contributing Org.:
Ion Power, New Castle, DE (United States)
OSTI Identifier:
1426325
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1435535; OSTI ID: 1437377; OSTI ID: 1460173
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-18-20371
Journal ID: ISSN 0013-4651; /jes/165/6/F3148.atom
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC52-06NA25396; AC02-06CH11357; AC05-00OR22725
Resource Type:
Published Article
Journal Name:
Journal of the Electrochemical Society
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Journal of the Electrochemical Society Journal Volume: 165 Journal Issue: 6; Journal ID: ISSN 0013-4651
Publisher:
The Electrochemical Society
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
25 ENERGY STORAGE; automotive application; carbon support corrosion; polymer electrolyte fuel cells

Citation Formats

Macauley, Natalia, Papadias, Dennis D., Fairweather, Joseph, Spernjak, Dusan, Langlois, David, Ahluwalia, Rajesh, More, Karren L., Mukundan, Rangachary, and Borup, Rodney L. Carbon Corrosion in PEM Fuel Cells and the Development of Accelerated Stress Tests. United States: N. p., 2018. Web. doi:10.1149/2.0061806jes.
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Macauley, Natalia, Papadias, Dennis D., Fairweather, Joseph, Spernjak, Dusan, Langlois, David, Ahluwalia, Rajesh, More, Karren L., Mukundan, Rangachary, & Borup, Rodney L. Carbon Corrosion in PEM Fuel Cells and the Development of Accelerated Stress Tests. United States. https://doi.org/10.1149/2.0061806jes
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Macauley, Natalia, Papadias, Dennis D., Fairweather, Joseph, Spernjak, Dusan, Langlois, David, Ahluwalia, Rajesh, More, Karren L., Mukundan, Rangachary, and Borup, Rodney L. Thu . "Carbon Corrosion in PEM Fuel Cells and the Development of Accelerated Stress Tests". United States. https://doi.org/10.1149/2.0061806jes.
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@article{osti_1426325,
title = {Carbon Corrosion in PEM Fuel Cells and the Development of Accelerated Stress Tests},
author = {Macauley, Natalia and Papadias, Dennis D. and Fairweather, Joseph and Spernjak, Dusan and Langlois, David and Ahluwalia, Rajesh and More, Karren L. and Mukundan, Rangachary and Borup, Rodney L.},
abstractNote = {Carbon corrosion is an important degradation mechanism that can impair PEMFC performance through the destruction of catalyst connectivity, collapse of the electrode pore structure, loss of hydrophobic character, and an increase of the catalyst particle size. In this study, carbon corrosion was quantified in situ by measurement of carbon dioxide in the fuel cell exhaust gases through non-dispersive infrared spectroscopy during simulated drive cycle operations consisting of potential cycling with varying upper and lower potential limits. These studies were conducted for three different types of carbon supports. A reduction in the catalyst layer thickness was observed during a simulated drive cycle operation with a concomitant decrease in catalyst layer porosity, which led to performance losses due to increased mass transport limitations. The observed thickness reduction was primarily due to compaction of the catalyst layer, with the actual mass of carbon oxidation (loss) contributing only a small fraction (< 20%). The dynamics of carbon corrosion are presented along with a model that simulates the transient and dynamic corrosion rates observed in our experiments. Accelerated carbon corrosion stress tests are presented and their effects are compared to those observed for the drive cycle test.},
doi = {10.1149/2.0061806jes},
journal = {Journal of the Electrochemical Society},
number = 6,
volume = 165,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Mar 15 00:00:00 EDT 2018},
month = {Thu Mar 15 00:00:00 EDT 2018}
}
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Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1149/2.0061806jes
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