Effects of environmental conditions on cathode degradation of polymer electrolyte fuel cell during potential cycle

Abstract

We investigated the effects of cell temperature and the humidity of gas supplied to the cell during the load cycle durability test protocol recommended by The Fuel Cell Commercialization Conference of Japan (FCCJ). Changes in the electrochemically active surface area (ECA) and in the amount of carbon support corrosion were examined by using the JARI standard single cell. The ECA declined more quickly when the gas humidity was raised, and the carbon corrosion was at the same level. These results suggest that the agglomeration of platinum was accelerated by the same agglomeration mechanism, i.e., by raising the humidity of the gas supplied to the cell.