Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HYDROGEN ENERGY
Volume 43, Issue 45, Pages 21006-21016Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2018.09.103
Keywords
High temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell; In-situ diagnosis; Performance degradation; Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy; Tafel analysis
Categories
Funding
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [21676126, 51676092, 21506081]
- Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province [BK20171296, BK20170530]
- China Postdoctoral Science Foundation [2017M610307, 2017M621648]
- Research Foundation for Advanced Talents of Jiangsu University [16JDG018, 17JDG012, 16JDG061]
- Priority Academic Program Development (PAPD) of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions
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Ex-situ electrochemical characterization techniques could significantly alter or misrepresent the materials of high temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (HT-PEMFC) to the point where they are not reflective of their conditions during operation, resulting in difficulties in obtaining realistic fuel cell durability. To minimize this disturbance, we proposed an in-situ low-invasive technique of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), combining with polarization curve and Tafel slope analysis, to investigate the performance degradation of HT-PEMFC. The membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) used in the HT-PEMFC were lab-made but with commercial catalyst and poly(2,5-benzimidazole) (ABPBI) membrane. Two common test modes, i.e. steady-state operation and dynamic state operation, were employed to mimic practical HT-PEMFC operation. By examining the changes of electrochemical properties of the HT-PEMFC under steady- or dynamic-state operation, the main mechanism for the performance degradation can be determined. The results from the study suggests that a high cell performance decay rate cannot be directly attributed to materials degradation, especially in a short-term steady-state operation. In contrast, the change of Tafel slope can be seen as a clear indicator to determine the extent of catalyst degradation of HT-PEMFC, no matter which test protocol was applied. Post analysis of TEM on the catalysts before and after tests further confirmed the main mechanism for the performance losses of the HT-PEMFCs underwent two test protocols, while acid loss and membrane degradation were considered to be negligible during the short-term tests. (C) 2018 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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