Relative humidity impact on the performance and internal resistances of a PEFC working at maximum output power
(2023) In Electrochimica Acta 464.- Abstract
Polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) development goes hand in hand with a complete understanding of its behavior in realistic operating conditions. Hence, analysis based on characterizations is essential to determine the predominant effects strongly affecting PEFC performance. Experimental research is carried out using a single PEFC under controlled conditions. The primary objective is to examine the cell's maximum power output through polarization curves, Nyquist diagrams, and internal resistant graphs. The analysis is performed, varying the cell's relative humidity (RH) from 16% to 100%. The results are accomplished by employing current sweep load and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. It was demonstrated that the operation at... (More)
Polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) development goes hand in hand with a complete understanding of its behavior in realistic operating conditions. Hence, analysis based on characterizations is essential to determine the predominant effects strongly affecting PEFC performance. Experimental research is carried out using a single PEFC under controlled conditions. The primary objective is to examine the cell's maximum power output through polarization curves, Nyquist diagrams, and internal resistant graphs. The analysis is performed, varying the cell's relative humidity (RH) from 16% to 100%. The results are accomplished by employing current sweep load and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. It was demonstrated that the operation at the maximum power of a PEFC is optimized in the relative humidity range of 66-100%. This range allows for a balance of proper hydration of the polymer membrane and the availability and activation of reaction sites. The internal resistances were evaluated individually and presented in graphs showing a decrease when the RH increases, where ohmic and mass transport resistances are the most affected by the RH. Furthermore, the mass transport and ohmic resistances were dominant at low RH. In contrast, ohmic and charge transfer resistance were prevalent at high RH, indicating the required improvements at these points. Finally, several correlations are proposed to obtain internal resistance values as a function of the RH with a confidence interval of 95%.
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- author
- Santana-Villamar, Jordy ; Espinoza-Andaluz, Mayken LU ; Echeverria, Samir ; Cedeño, Gabriel and Andersson, Martin LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2023-10-01
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Charge transfer resistance, Mass transfer resistance, Nyquist diagram, Ohmic resistance, Power output, Relative Humidity
- in
- Electrochimica Acta
- volume
- 464
- article number
- 142963
- publisher
- Pergamon Press Ltd.
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85166488948
- ISSN
- 0013-4686
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.electacta.2023.142963
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- Funding Information: The authors kindly acknowledge the financial support from the FIMCP-33-2022 project. Computational and physical resources provided by ESPOL are also very grateful. Publisher Copyright: © 2023
- id
- 233ce933-e7bd-4f70-9d21-fcdc7a3fd515
- date added to LUP
- 2023-08-14 22:08:25
- date last changed
- 2023-11-08 08:38:53
@article{233ce933-e7bd-4f70-9d21-fcdc7a3fd515,
abstract = {{<p>Polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) development goes hand in hand with a complete understanding of its behavior in realistic operating conditions. Hence, analysis based on characterizations is essential to determine the predominant effects strongly affecting PEFC performance. Experimental research is carried out using a single PEFC under controlled conditions. The primary objective is to examine the cell's maximum power output through polarization curves, Nyquist diagrams, and internal resistant graphs. The analysis is performed, varying the cell's relative humidity (RH) from 16% to 100%. The results are accomplished by employing current sweep load and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. It was demonstrated that the operation at the maximum power of a PEFC is optimized in the relative humidity range of 66-100%. This range allows for a balance of proper hydration of the polymer membrane and the availability and activation of reaction sites. The internal resistances were evaluated individually and presented in graphs showing a decrease when the RH increases, where ohmic and mass transport resistances are the most affected by the RH. Furthermore, the mass transport and ohmic resistances were dominant at low RH. In contrast, ohmic and charge transfer resistance were prevalent at high RH, indicating the required improvements at these points. Finally, several correlations are proposed to obtain internal resistance values as a function of the RH with a confidence interval of 95%.</p>}},
author = {{Santana-Villamar, Jordy and Espinoza-Andaluz, Mayken and Echeverria, Samir and Cedeño, Gabriel and Andersson, Martin}},
issn = {{0013-4686}},
keywords = {{Charge transfer resistance; Mass transfer resistance; Nyquist diagram; Ohmic resistance; Power output; Relative Humidity}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{10}},
publisher = {{Pergamon Press Ltd.}},
series = {{Electrochimica Acta}},
title = {{Relative humidity impact on the performance and internal resistances of a PEFC working at maximum output power}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2023.142963}},
doi = {{10.1016/j.electacta.2023.142963}},
volume = {{464}},
year = {{2023}},
}