Investigation of catalyst layer defects in catalyst-coated membrane for PEMFC application: Non-destructive method
Abstract
The commercialization of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells has been hindered by durability problems caused by defects in the manufacturing process. We demonstrate for the first time a non-destructive, non-contact method that uses optical microscopy and image analysis to identify defects that may lead to failure in catalyst-coated membranes (CCMs) of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells. This method is applied to 2 commercial CCMs produced by the decal transfer technique. Defects in the catalyst layer (CL) at the beginning-of-life (BOL) are characterized in terms of their initial size and shape, and their propagation is tracked as the CCMs are aged in a non-reactive environment. The defected area in one of the commercial CCMs increases from approximately 2.4% of the total CL area at BOL to 10.5% by end-of-life (EOL). BOL defects in the CL are found to propagate faster in the CCMs stored for 2 years under atmospheric conditions compared with freshly manufactured CCMs with narrow CL defects. Image analysis of another commercial CCM shows the presence of pores with diameters between 5 and 25 μm that comprise 52% of the total pore area in the CL. Other defects such as scratches and missing/empty catalyst areas are identified and characterized, providing a framework for quality control applications. Finally, the effect of defects on fuel cell performance is characterized by measurement of the open-circuit voltage (OCV). These experiments show that CCMs with a large number of cracks in the CL exhibit a voltage loss of 2.55 mV/hr, whereas CCMs with thin/missing/empty CL defects show a loss of 1.12 mV/hr.
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Infrared thermography is widely utilized in fuel cell research as a nondestructive diagnostic tool for in-line quality inspection and also works for characterization of membrane pinholes.
“Infrared (IR) thermography has been widely utilized in fuel cell research as a nondestructive diagnostic tool for in-line quality inspection (Fig. 20a), which also works for the characterization of membrane pinholes [196,218].”
From Recent Advances on PEM Fuel Cells: From Key Materials to Membrane Electrode Assembly (2023) · cites this paper as [196]
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- Authors
- Arcot, M. P., Zheng, K., McGrory, J., Fowler, M. W., & Pritzker, M. D.
- Affiliations
- University of Waterloo (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Pritzker, M.D.
- Venue
- International Journal of Energy Research
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2018-06-05
- Volume
- 42
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- 3615-3632
- ISSN
- 0363-907X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2807136876
- Cited by
- 27
- References
- 38
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 1
- FWCI
- 0.77
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- International Journal of Energy Research (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Electrical and Electronic Engineering › Fuel Cells and Related Materials
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Materials Chemistry › Advancements in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells
- Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
- Keywords
- catalyst coated membranes, proton exchange membrane fuel cells, non-destructive defect detection, image analysis, defect propagation, fuel cell durability, open-circuit voltage loss, catalyst layer porosity, quality control, fuel cell degradation
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