Degradation Characteristics of Elastomeric Gasket Materials in a Simulated PEM Fuel Cell Environment

Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell stack requires gaskets and seals in each cell to keep the reactant gases (hydrogen and oxygen) within their respective regions. The stability of the gaskets/seals is critical to the operating life as well as the electrochemical performance of the fuel cell. The time-dependant chemical and mechanical degradation of two commercially available silicones-based elastomeric gasket materials in a simulated fuel cell environment was investigated in this work. Two temperatures based on actual fuel cell operation were selected and used in this study. Using optical microscopy, the topographical damage on the sample surface due to the acidic environment was revealed. Atomic adsorption spectrometer analysis shows that silicon, calcium, and magnesium were leached from the materials into the soaking solution. Attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were employed to study the surface chemistry of the elastomeric gasket materials before and after exposure to the simulated fuel cell environment over time. The ATR-FTIR and XPS test results indicate that the surface chemistry changed significantly and the chemical degradation mechanism is de-crosslinking and chain scission in the backbone. The microindentation test results show that the mechanical properties of the silicone materials changed significantly after exposure to the simulated PEM fuel cell environment over time.