Durability aspects of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

In order for the successful adoption of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell technology, it is imperative that durability is understood, quantified and improved. A number of mechanisms are known to contribute to PEMFC membrane electrode assembly (MEA) performance degradation. In this dissertation, we show, via experiments, some of the various processes that degrade the proton exchange membrane in a PEM fuel cell; and catalyst poisoning due to hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and siloxane.; The effect of humidity on the chemical stability of two types of membranes, [i.e., perfluorosulfonic acid type (PFSA, NafionRTM 112) and biphenyl sulfone hydrocarbon type, (BPSH-35)] was studied by subjecting the MEAs to open-circuit voltage (OCV) decay and potential cycling tests at elevated temperatures and low inlet gas relative humidities. The BPSH-35 membranes showed poor chemical stability in ex situ Fenton tests compared to that of NafionRTM membranes. However, under fuel cell conditions, BPSH-35 MEAs outperformed NafionRTM 112 MEAs in both the OCV decay and potential cycling tests. For both membranes, (i) at a given temperature, membrane degradation was more pronounced at lower humidities and (ii) at a given relative humidity operation, increasing the cell temperature accelerated membrane degradation. Mechanical stability of these two types of membranes was also studied using relative humidity (RH) cycling.; Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) formation rates in a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell were estimated by studying the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) on a rotating ring disc electrode (RRDE). Fuel cell conditions were replicated by depositing a film of Pt/Vulcan XC-72 catalyst onto the disk and by varying the temperature, dissolved O2 concentration and the acidity levels in HClO4. The HClO4 acidity was correlated to ionomer water activity and hence fuel cell humidity. H 2O2 formation rates showed a linear dependence on oxygen concentration and square dependence on water activity. The H2O 2 selectivity in ORR was independent of oxygen concentration but increased with decrease in water activity (i.e., decreased humidity).; Presences of trace impurities (such as CO, H2S, NH3, etc.) in the fuel also affect PEMFC durability. Among these impurities, H 2S causes significantly higher performance loss and irreversible catalytic poisoning. A concise mechanism for the poisoning kinetics of H2S on composite solid polymer electrolyte Pt (SPE-Pt) electrode was validated experimentally by charge balances and theoretically by a model, which predicted the oxidation current as a function of the applied potential. H2S dissociatively adsorbed onto SPE-Pt electrode as linear and bridge bonded sulfur (S) species and, under favorable potentials, underwent electro-oxidation to sulfur and then to sulfur dioxide (SO2). Fraction of the adsorbed S species remained as 'hard-to-oxidize' adsorbents and caused irreversible loss of catalytic activity. Deactivation of bridge sites occurred first followed by the loss of linear sites. A method to estimate the catalytic sites irreversibly lost due to sulfur poisoning was developed.