The Effect of Catalyst Layer Coating Irregularities on Initial Fuel Cell Performance

Keywords

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), Manufacturing irregularities, Quality control, Membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs), Catalyst loading variations

Abstract

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are energy conversion devices that offer high power densities at low operating temperatures making PEMFCs the most promising technology for many applications such as automobiles, back-up power generating units, and portable devices. While design and material considerations for PEMFCs have a large impact on cost, it is also necessary to consider a transition to high volume production of fuel cell systems, including MEA components, to enable economies of scale and reduce per-unit cost. The fuel cell industry has identified quality control as a critical barrier for continuous production of MEA components, i.e. membranes, electrodes, and GDLs. One of the critical manufacturing tasks is developing and deploying techniques to provide in-process measurement of fuel cell components for quality control. This work focuses on a necessary subsidiary task: The study of the effect of manufacturing irregularities on performance with the objective to establish validated manufacturing tolerances for fuel cell electrodes.

Original Publication Citation

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1149/MA2016-02/38/2806

Document Type

Presentation

Publication Date

2016

Publisher

The Electrochemical Society

Language

English

College

Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology

Department

Mechanical Engineering

University Standing at Time of Publication

Associate Professor

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