Accelerated Durability Testing of Perfluorosulfonic Acid MEAs for PEMFCs Using Different Relative

Durability studies were carried out on membrane electrode assemblies (MEA)s containing commercial Nafion ® membranes. Fuel cells were run under hydrogen/air for 100 hours at 10 to 100% relative humidity, 90 and 100 oC, and open circuit voltage. The voltage was monitored during the durability test, as was the condensate water for presence of fluoride ions. Crossover current (CO), electrochemically active surface areas (ECA), and polarization curves were evaluated pre- and post- test. High and low %RH (10 and 80-100 % RH) resulted in the least degradation while medium-low %RH (20-30 % RH) resulted in the highest level of degradation. By examining the various parameters that were used to measure the level of degradation more closely, it may be possible to gain a deeper understanding of how the humidity of an operating fuel cell effects degradation