Position-Dependent Cathode Degradation of Large Scale Membrane Electrode Assembly for Direct Methanol Fuel Cell

With respect to the durability of large scale (150 cm(2)) membrane electrode assembly (MEA) of direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC), degradation phenomena at cathode is monitored and analyzed according to the position on the cathode surface. After constant current mode operation of large scale MEA for 500 hr, the MEA is divided into three parts along the cathode channel; (close to) inlet, middle, and (close to) outlet. The performance of each MEA is tested and it is revealed that the MEA from the cathode outlet of large MEA shows the worst performance. This is due to the catalyst degradation and GDL delamination caused by flooding at cathode outlet of large MEA during the 500 hr operation. Particularly on the catalyst degradation, the loss of electrochemically active surface area (ECSA) of catalyst gets worse along the cathode channel from inlet to outlet, of which the reason is believed to be loss of catalysts by dissolution and migration rather than their agglomeration. The extent of loss in the performance and catalyst degradation has strong relation to the cathode flooding and it is required to develop proper water management techniques and separator channel design to control the flooding.