Temperature Reduction as Operando Performance Recovery Procedure for Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells

Qian Zhang, Mathias Schulze, Pawel Gazdzicki () and Kaspar Andreas Friedrich
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Qian Zhang: Electrochemical Energy Technology, Institute of Engineering Thermodynamics, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Pfaffenwaldring 38-40, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany
Mathias Schulze: Electrochemical Energy Technology, Institute of Engineering Thermodynamics, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Pfaffenwaldring 38-40, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany
Pawel Gazdzicki: Electrochemical Energy Technology, Institute of Engineering Thermodynamics, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Pfaffenwaldring 38-40, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany
Kaspar Andreas Friedrich: Electrochemical Energy Technology, Institute of Engineering Thermodynamics, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Pfaffenwaldring 38-40, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 4, 1-19

Abstract: To efficiently mitigate the reversible performance degradation of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells, it is crucial to thoroughly understand recovery effects. In this work, the effect of operando performance recovery by temperature reduction is evaluated. The results reveal that operando reduction in cell temperature from 80 °C to 45 °C yields a performance recovery of 60–70% in the current density range below 1 A cm −2 in a shorter time (1.5 h versus 10.5 h), as opposed to a known and more complex non-operando recovery procedure. Notably, the absolute recovered voltage is directly proportional to the total amount of liquid water produced during the temperature reduction. Thus, the recovery effect is likely attributed to a reorganization/rearrangement of the ionomer due to water condensation. Reduction in the charge transfer and mass transfer resistance is observed after the temperature reduction by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurement. During non-operando temperature reduction (i.e., open circuit voltage (OCV) hold during recovery instead of load cycling) an even higher recovery efficiency of >80% was achieved.

Keywords: durability; irreversible degradation; operando recovery; polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells; reversible degradation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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