Pinhole formation in PEMFC membrane after electrochemical degradation and wet/dry cycling test

During the operation of a PEMFC, the polymer membrane is degraded by electrochemical reactions and mechanical stresses. We investigated the effects of repeated electrochemical and mechanical degradations in a membrane. For mechanical degradation, the membrane and MEA were repeatedly subjected to wet/dry cycles; for electrochemical degradation, the cell was operated under open-circuit voltage (OCV)/low-humidity conditions. The repeated wet/dry cycles led to a decrease in the mechanical strength of the membrane. When the MEA was degraded electrochemically, repeated wet/dry cycling resulted in the formation of pinholes in the membrane. In the case of different MEAs that were first degraded electrochemically, the extents of their hydrogen crossover currents increased due to repeated wet/dry cycling being different. Therefore, these results indicated that the membrane durability could be evaluated by these methods of repeated electrochemical degradation and wet/dry cycles.