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Rapid degradation characteristics of an air‐cooled PEMFC stack
Author(s) -
Luo Lizhong,
Huang Bi,
Cheng Zongyi,
Jian Qifei
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
international journal of energy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.808
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1099-114X
pISSN - 0363-907X
DOI - 10.1002/er.5266
Subject(s) - proton exchange membrane fuel cell , stack (abstract data type) , degradation (telecommunications) , durability , diffusion , materials science , membrane , voltage , nuclear engineering , analytical chemistry (journal) , chemical engineering , chemistry , electrical engineering , composite material , chromatography , thermodynamics , engineering , computer science , programming language , biochemistry , physics
Summary Durability is one of the obstacles to the large‐scale commercialization of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) stacks. Understanding its decay behavior is a prerequisite for improving durability. In this study, rapid degradation characteristics of an air‐cooled PEMFC stack are investigated. Due to the simultaneous presence of various degradation sources, the maximum power of the PEMFC stack has been reduced by 39.6% after just 74.6 h of operations. Performance degradation characteristics are sought by analyzing the cell voltage, temperature distribution, ion chromatography, and surface morphology of the gas diffusion layer. The result shows that abnormal cell voltage and temperature distribution can reflect the problematic location. The fluoride ion emission rate is 0.111 mg/day, which proves that the membrane has been seriously degraded. Contact angle reduction and impurities attached to the surface of the gas diffusion layer lead to the water management failure. It is also found that the main factor for performance degradation could be different under different current conditions. And more information can be found under higher current conditions during monitoring the decay of PEMFCs. This study helps to deepen the understanding of performance degradation characteristics.