Impacts of operating conditions on the effects of chloride contamination on PEM fuel cell performance and durability

Chloride contaminated fuel and/or air streams in an operating proton exchange membrane fuel cell can cause significant adverse effects on fuel cell performance and durability. This paper reports investigations of chloride contamination effects on PEM fuel cell performance and durability under a wide range of operating conditions, using various in-situ diagnostic measurements. Increases in current density and Cl concentration as well as decreases in fuel cell RH were found to enlarge the severity of the chloride contamination effect. Temperature was also found to have a significant influence on the contamination effect. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was used as a diagnostic tool during the contamination tests to explore changes in cell component resistances. The results indicated that chloride contamination causes predominantly an increase in charge transfer resistance as well as an increase in mass transfer resistance. The membrane resistance was not found to be impacted by chloride contamination. As measured by cyclic voltammetry, the presence of chloride in the air stream significantly reduced the cathode electrochemical surface area, and this reduction is believed to be due to the adsorption of chloride on the Pt surface causing active site blockage and accelerated Pt dissolution and agglomeration via the formation of Pt-Cl complexes. Crown Copyright (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.