Electrocatalyst Durability under Simulated Automotive Drive Cycles

Abstract

Proton Exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) for automotive applications are subject to hundreds of thousands of potential or load cycles during normal operation of the vehicle. Pt dissolves under such cycling and is a major contributing factor to the lowered durability of PEMFCs. This paper details the effect of various simplified potential-cycle profiles, the effect of operating conditions such as temperature, relative humidity, reactant gases etc., as well as different catalyst materials under normal fuel cell operating voltage ranges (0.95-0.60V) in fuel cells. Results on Pt dissolution utilizing complementary ex-situ methods are also presented. The fundamental and practical implications of varying the operating parameters as well as a possible hypothesis for Pt dissolution are reported.