Abstract
Understanding degradation of the membrane–electrode assembly (MEA) of direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC) is important technically and scientifically for the advancement of this technology. In this work, we carry out a spatially resolved investigation of the degradation of an MEA, which has been degraded through its operation lifetime. The MEA has an active area of 320cm2 and has been used in operation of a DMFC stack for more than 3000h to power a lift truck. The analysis of degradation with respect to the local position of the flow field pattern was carried out by cutting the MEA into small pieces that are characterized in a 1cm2 sized test cell with a reference electrode setup. The characterization techniques involved measurement of anode and cathode polarization curves, electrode potential relaxation curves after current interruption, MeOH-stripping voltammograms, cyclic voltammetry and SEM/EDX analysis. The MEA pieces were prepared by Laser ablation technique to realize the reference electrodes. The analysis yielded an independence of performance from the local position of the MEAs within the stack in terms of the anode and cathode flow fields.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
