Looking Inside Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell Stack Using Tailored Electrochemical Methods

Voltammetry, potentiometry, amperometry, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were used to study practical polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) stacks in an attempt to validate the stack-tailored electrochemical methods and to show the range of information about a PEMFC stack obtainable with the methods. In-stack electrode voltammetry allowed to determine the type, i.e., the surface chemistry, of catalysts used to make the stack electrodes and to measure the electrodes’ true active surface areas (EASAs). Stack potentiometry gave the EASAs, too, but only after calibration of the method against voltammetry. The speed of the test is the advantage of the stack potentiometry. An amperometry-based protocol was introduced to measure the hydrogen permeability and electronic shorting of the stack membrane-electrode assemblies. Dependence of the H2 permeability on H2 pressure and the stack temperature was shown. EIS in the hydrogen-pump mode was used to study the anode and electrolyte membrane processes under load. Spectra were dominated by humidification effects, which allowed probing the external humidification distribution to the anodes in the stack. Cathode EIS spectra obtained by subtraction of H2-H2-mode spectra from H2-air-mode spectra were modeled and the ohmic, charge-transfer, and oxygen mass-transport contributions to the stack polarization under load were separated. The variability of these contributions across the stack was discussed.