Surface Analytical Methods for the Development of Electrochemical Components of Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells

A comprehensive overview of infrared absorption, Raman, and X-ray photoemission spectroscopy and their application in fuel cell research is given in this paper. Based on these ex-situ spectroscopic techniques a set of methods addressing the specific problems in the development of polymer electrolyte fuel cells are discussed and compared, regarding multi scale chemical characterizations and the analytics of outer surfaces, inner surfaces and buried layers. It is shown, that a combination of complementary methods is necessary to gather a comprehensive view of the occurring processes and mechanisms.