A structure and durability comparison of membrane electrode assembly fabrication methods: self-assembled versus hot-pressed
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Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The most common means of fabricating membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) for polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) involves a hot-press step. The conditions used to perform the hot-press impacts the performance and durability of the fuel cell. However, the hot-press process is not essential for achieving operational MEAs and some practitioners dispense with the hot-press stage altogether by using a self-assembled approach. By performing the integration of the components in-situ during fuel cell assembly, there is the potential to lower the cost and time of manufacture. This study investigates the electrochemical performance and mechanical microstructure of MEAs that were either hot-pressed or self-assembled (non-hot-pressed) and compared at beginning-of-test (BOT) and end-of-test (EOT), following accelerated stress testing. Hot-pressed and self-assembled MEAs were found to show negligible difference in their performance and almost identical performance degradation. X-ray computed tomography (X-ray CT) showed distinct differences in the microstructure of the electrodes. In addition to a crack network in the catalyst layer, the self-assembled samples exhibit indentations that were not present in the hot-pressed sample. It was concluded that in-situ assembly of MEAs could be a suitable means of fabricating PEFC MEAs.
Date Issued
2018-02-21
Date Acceptance
2018-02-06
Citation
Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 2018, 165 (6), pp.F3045-F3052
ISSN
1945-7111
Publisher
Electrochemical Society
Start Page
F3045
End Page
F3052
Journal / Book Title
Journal of The Electrochemical Society
Volume
165
Issue
6
Copyright Statement
© 2018 The Author(s). Published by ECS. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (CC BY, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse of the work in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Sponsor
Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (E
Identifier
http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000431807600006&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Grant Number
EP/P024807/1
Subjects
Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Technology
Electrochemistry
Materials Science, Coatings & Films
Materials Science
PEM FUEL-CELLS
RAY COMPUTED-TOMOGRAPHY
GAS-DIFFUSION LAYERS
WATER DISTRIBUTION
MICROPOROUS LAYER
AC-IMPEDANCE
ULTRA-LOW
PERFORMANCE
CATALYST
VISUALIZATION
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2018-02-21