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The low current electrochemical mechanisms of the fuel cell cathode catalyst layer through an impedance study

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journal contribution
posted on 2015-08-21, 15:01 authored by Samuel Cruz-Manzo, Pratap Rama, Rui Chen
Based on the fundamental electrode theory and the impedance experimental study, a numerical model to simulate the low current distribution in the time domain and the electrochemical impedance spectra of the cathode catalyst layer (CCL) of polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) has been developed in this study. The model development consists of two stages: to establish the fundamental equations for the low current distribution in the CCL in the time domain and to resolve the fundamental theory in the frequency domain. It was validated by comparing the simulated impedance of the CCL directly against the impedance data measured from an operational test cell. The simulated frequency response agrees well with the experimental data. The model was applied in the time domain to simulate the effects of the proton resistance and the double-layer capacitance across the CCL on the transitory and steady-state current distribution. The results showed that the model has established a backbone understanding of how the low current electrochemical mechanisms relate to the electrochemical impedance spectra of the CCL. It establishes a wider scope to relate the electrochemical impedance data to the fundamental theory of PEFCs.

Funding

The authors thank the Mexican National Council for Science and Technology CONACYT for the sponsorship of the Ph.D research study of S. Cruz-Manzo grant no. 183195 . Loughborough University assisted in meeting the publication costs of this article.

History

School

  • Aeronautical, Automotive, Chemical and Materials Engineering

Department

  • Aeronautical and Automotive Engineering

Published in

JOURNAL OF THE ELECTROCHEMICAL SOCIETY

Volume

157

Issue

3

Pages

B400 - B408 (9)

Citation

CRUZ-MANZO, S., RAMA, P. and CHEN, R., 2010. The low current electrochemical mechanisms of the fuel cell cathode catalyst layer through an impedance study. Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 157 (3), pp. B400 - B408.

Publisher

© Electrochemical Society

Version

  • AM (Accepted Manuscript)

Publisher statement

This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Publication date

2010

Notes

This article was accepted for publication in the Journal of the Electrochemical Society [© Electrochemical Society]. The definitive version is available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1149/1.3280267.

ISSN

0013-4651

Language

  • en