Decay of material properties of degraded MEA caused by repeated cold starts under subzero conditions in polymer electrolyte fuel cells |
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| Authors: | Yasuo Takagi Mitsuru Onoda Tamotsu Toriyama Katsunori Kawasaki Toshiyuki Hattori |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Dept. of Chemistry and Energy Engineering, Tokyo City University, Japan;2. Dept. of Particle‐, Nuclear‐, and Astro‐Physics, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan;3. Dept. of Nuclear Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan |
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| Abstract: | This study investigated the characteristics of cell performance degradation, decline of component performance, and changes in the properties of membrane electrode assembly materials caused by repeated cold starts under a subzero condition of ?30 °C. It was made clear that functional decay appeared mainly at the cathode due to increased proton conductive impedance and reduction of reactivity of the electrode catalyst. Among the cathode components, an increase in proton conductive impedance in the cathode electrolyte was dominant. Furthermore, the application of ion chromatography and a newly developed proton‐induced gamma‐ray emission method to measure fluorine in the off‐gas drain revealed that decomposition of the electrolyte was dominant in the cathode catalyst layer. A decrease in fluorine in the cathode electrolyte measured by fluorine‐19 nuclear magnetic resonance confirmed this decomposition. A hypothesis is also presented concerning the cause of the performance degradation. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/htj ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20394 |
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| Keywords: | polymer electrolyte fuel cell electrochemical reaction hydrogen energy cold start degradation |
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