Ratcheting assessment of the catalyst layer in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells considering thermal-mechanical-humidity cycling

Peishan Ding, Xiaotao Zheng, Haofeng Chen and Shantung Tu

Applied Energy, 2024, vol. 357, issue C, No S030626192301855X

Abstract: The properties of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are highly affected by the catalyst layer (CL). However, the cyclic swelling and shrinking of the ionomer caused by the change of temperature and relative humidity (RH) combined with external random mechanical loads may lead to electrochemical activity degradation through cyclic plasticity accumulation. In this study, a theoretical model to assess the ratcheting limit of the CL for PEFMCs subjected to thermal-mechanical-humidity cycling is developed based on linear matching method (LMM). The influences of embedded depth of Pt/C particle, cyclic temperature or RH modes, as well as the random reaction force are considered by the proposed method. The ratcheting limits of CL are achieved under various thermal-mechanical-humidity cycling and verified by step-by-step simulation. Moreover, a simplified prediction model is established to evaluate the ratcheting limits under the combined temperature and RH cycling. It is of interest that the ratcheting limit under the pure normal force is almost 3 time of that under the pure tangential force under the same thermal-humidity cycling. Furthermore, the accumulated plastic strain occurs near the junction area causing the debonding of Pt/C particle from the ionomer under thermal-mechanical-humidity cycling, which agrees well with the microscopic observation. Based on ratcheting assessment results obtained by the proposed method, the reliability and durability of PEMFCs can be improved by increasing the affinity between Pt/C and ionomer, decreasing the size of gas pore and inhibiting the tangential force in the CL.

Keywords: Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell; Catalyst layer; Thermal-mechanical-humidity cycling; Ratcheting; Linear matching method (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030626192301855X
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:appene:v:357:y:2024:i:c:s030626192301855x

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/bibliographic
http://www.elsevier. ... 405891/bibliographic

DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2023.122491

Access Statistics for this article

Applied Energy is currently edited by J. Yan

More articles in Applied Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().