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The Effect of Cracks on the In‐plane Electrical Conductivity of PEFC Catalyst Layers
Author(s) -
Tranter T. G.,
Tam M.,
Gostick J. T.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
electroanalysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.574
H-Index - 128
eISSN - 1521-4109
pISSN - 1040-0397
DOI - 10.1002/elan.201800553
Subject(s) - materials science , conductivity , cracking , catalysis , electrode , composite material , membrane electrode assembly , plane (geometry) , platinum , layer (electronics) , electrical resistivity and conductivity , carbon fibers , ionomer , thermal conductivity , fuel cells , chemical engineering , chemistry , polymer , electrolyte , electrical engineering , biochemistry , geometry , mathematics , composite number , engineering , copolymer
Fuel cell catalyst layers are a mixture of carbon, ionomer and platinum that are usually applied to the membrane during electrode assembly and can vary in structure for a number of reasons including the method of application, thickness of the layer, milling and heat treatments. Under some conditions significant cracking can occur which may or may not be beneficial to overall fuel cell performance but certainly has an effect on the catalyst's effective transport properties. The influence of cracking on the in‐plane electrical conductivity is studied experimentally and numerically through an image‐based approach. The conductivity is found to depend strongly on the crack structure which can be predicted with image based modelling. This fact is useful for determining the bulk conductivity from cracked samples for diagnostic purposes.