Impact of electrode thick spot irregularities on polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell initial performance

Wang, Min; Rome, Grace; Medina, Samantha; Pfeilsticker, Jason R.; Kang, Zhenye; Pylypenko, Svitlana; Ulsh, Michael; Bender, Guido

doi:10.1016/j.jpowsour.2020.228344

Title: Impact of electrode thick spot irregularities on polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell initial performance

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Abstract

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells have great potential for power generation in many applications, but to implement them on a larger scale, understanding of quality requirements, tolerances, and controls during manufacturing must improve. As part of this broad challenge, irregularities resulting from the membrane electrode assembly production process must be studied to determine if they impact the performance of the cell. One potential irregularity is a locally increased thickness of the coated or deposited electrode. In order to understand and provide insight into the impact of such irregularities, we intentionally created thick spots in the center of cathode electrodes. The thick spots fabricated by two different approaches were carefully characterized by optical microscopy, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). We found that the impact of the thick spots on the electrochemically active catalyst area and mass activity was minimal. However, specific electrode thick spot irregularities significantly impacted the mass transport properties of the cells. Based on SEM analysis, the likely cause of the performance drop is morphological changes associated with the creation of the thick spot irregularity. Spatial performance results obtained with a segmented cell system further indicated that the area of the performance impact exceeded that ofmore » the intentionally created thick spot.« less

Authors:

^[1]; Rome, Grace ^[2]; Medina, Samantha ^[3]; Pfeilsticker, Jason R. ^[1]; Kang, Zhenye ^[1]; Pylypenko, Svitlana ^[2];

^[1]; Bender, Guido ^[1]

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

Publication Date:: Mon May 18 00:00:00 EDT 2020

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

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)

OSTI Identifier:: 1660013

Alternate Identifier(s):: OSTI ID: 1619882

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-5900-76369
Journal ID: ISSN 0378-7753; MainId:6171;UUID:4013d8f3-9367-ea11-9c31-ac162d87dfe5;MainAdminID:13771

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

Resource Type:: Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:: Journal of Power Sources

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Volume: 466; Journal ID: ISSN 0378-7753

Publisher:: Elsevier

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 25 ENERGY STORAGE; electrode irregularities; MEA structure; PEMFC; segmented cell; spatial performance

Citation Formats


                    Wang, Min, Rome, Grace, Medina, Samantha, Pfeilsticker, Jason R., Kang, Zhenye, Pylypenko, Svitlana, Ulsh, Michael, and Bender, Guido. Impact of electrode thick spot irregularities on polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell initial performance.  United States: N. p., 2020. 
Web.  doi:10.1016/j.jpowsour.2020.228344.

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                    Wang, Min, Rome, Grace, Medina, Samantha, Pfeilsticker, Jason R., Kang, Zhenye, Pylypenko, Svitlana, Ulsh, Michael, & Bender, Guido. Impact of electrode thick spot irregularities on polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell initial performance.  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2020.228344

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                    Wang, Min, Rome, Grace, Medina, Samantha, Pfeilsticker, Jason R., Kang, Zhenye, Pylypenko, Svitlana, Ulsh, Michael, and Bender, Guido. Mon .  
"Impact of electrode thick spot irregularities on polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell initial performance".  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2020.228344.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1660013.

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@article{osti_1660013,

  title        = {Impact of electrode thick spot irregularities on polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell initial performance},

  author       = {Wang, Min and Rome, Grace and Medina, Samantha and Pfeilsticker, Jason R. and Kang, Zhenye and Pylypenko, Svitlana and Ulsh, Michael and Bender, Guido},

  abstractNote = {Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells have great potential for power generation in many applications, but to implement them on a larger scale, understanding of quality requirements, tolerances, and controls during manufacturing must improve. As part of this broad challenge, irregularities resulting from the membrane electrode assembly production process must be studied to determine if they impact the performance of the cell. One potential irregularity is a locally increased thickness of the coated or deposited electrode. In order to understand and provide insight into the impact of such irregularities, we intentionally created thick spots in the center of cathode electrodes. The thick spots fabricated by two different approaches were carefully characterized by optical microscopy, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). We found that the impact of the thick spots on the electrochemically active catalyst area and mass activity was minimal. However, specific electrode thick spot irregularities significantly impacted the mass transport properties of the cells. Based on SEM analysis, the likely cause of the performance drop is morphological changes associated with the creation of the thick spot irregularity. Spatial performance results obtained with a segmented cell system further indicated that the area of the performance impact exceeded that of the intentionally created thick spot.},

  doi          = {10.1016/j.jpowsour.2020.228344},

  journal      = {Journal of Power Sources},

  number       = ,

  volume       = 466,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {Mon May 18 00:00:00 EDT 2020},

  month        = {Mon May 18 00:00:00 EDT 2020}

}

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