An Investigation into Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Performance

Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) has been used to diagnose fuel cells and fuel cell performances, to specifically measure changes in the electrochemical cell, as well as look at varying performance conditions. [01-05] EIS can be used to measure fuel cells performances, and to compare the theoretical electrical circuit of the cell to a Randal cell. [23].;Fuel cells are a growing choice of energy storage, because they are simple to make and easy to use. [11] A fuel cell (FC) can have many different types of exchange membranes. Here, proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) and phosphoric acid fuel cells (PAFC) are studied due to their similarities of operation. [12] Both cells submit the catalyst to different operating conditions, which creates a different performance in a PEMFC and a PAFC. The types of catalysts can vary, but platinum catalysts and iron catalyst are particularly interesting. Platinum's high performance comes at a high cost, [17] and iron's ability to function as a catalyst is due to pyrolization and chemical modification. [18-19].;To further analyze a FC, a polarization curve can be used to study the open circuit potential (OCP), the amount of potential produced for every cm2 of current. Further analysis can be performed to determine the maximum power of the fuel. [09] Fuel cells, with platinum-platinum catalyst and non-PGM iron catalyst, were constructed for a PEMFC and PAFC. The operating conditions for each type of cell were maintained through testing. Polarization data and power data revealed that a platinum-platinum cell created more power per cm 2 of catalyst. The iron PAFC produced no significant polarization data or EIS data. A platinum-platinum PEMFC behaved as a Randal cell, and produced more power than the non-PGM cells. All of these finding will be discussed.