Electrochemical Impedance Parameters for the Diagnosis of a Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell Poisoned by Carbon Monoxide in Reformed Hydrogen Fuel

We have investigated the behavior of an operating polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) with supplying a mixture of carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen (H-2) gases into the anode to develop the PEFC diagnosis method for anode CO poisoning by reformed hydrogen fuel. We analyze the characteristics of the CO poisoned anode of the PEFC at 80 degrees C including CO adsorption and electro-oxidation behaviors by current-voltage (I-V) measurement and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) to find parameters useful for the diagnosis. I-V curves show the dependence of the output voltage on the CO adsorption and electro-oxidation. EIS analyses are performed with all equivalent circuit model consisting of several resistances and capacitances attributed to the activation, diffusion, and adsorption/desorption processes. As the result, those resistances and capacitances are shown to change with current density, and anode overpotential depending on the CO adsorption and electro-oxidation. The characteristic changes of those parameters show that they can be used for the diagnosis of the CO poisoning.