Effective Electrode Edge Protection for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Drive Cycle Operation
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States)
Drive cycle (DC) tests employ rapid load cycling which will result in rapidly changing local operating conditions and consequently high non-uniform mechanical stress at the electrode perimeter. In order to better investigate the impact of electrode irregularities on the long-term behavior of the cell, it is necessary to exclude the edge effects of the membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) as a failure mode. Therefore, an effective electrode edge protection technique using thin protective gaskets and a hot-pressing procedure was developed which dramatically prolonged lifetime. Open circuit voltage (OCV), air polarization curve, and hydrogen crossover limiting current density were monitored during the DC tests. For post-DC ex-situ analysis, an in-house developed pinhole detection apparatus was employed to analyze quantity, size, and location of the failure points of MEAs with and without edge protection. Non-protected MEAs typically developed tears at the electrode perimeter, while the longer-lasting protected MEAs exhibited seemingly random pinhole development.
- Research Organization:
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Sustainable Transportation Office. Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technologies Office
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC36-08GO28308
- OSTI ID:
- 1570822
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/JA-5900-74427; MainId:11855; UUID:05a9b125-92ad-e911-9c24-ac162d87dfe5; MainAdminID:335
- Journal Information:
- ECS Transactions (Online), Vol. 92, Issue 8; ISSN 1938-6737
- Publisher:
- Electrochemical SocietyCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Alternate Fuel Cell Membranes for Energy Independence
Visualization, understanding, and mitigation of process-induced-membrane irregularities in gas diffusion electrode-based polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells