Estimating Important Electrode Parameters of High Temperature PEM Fuel Cells By Fitting a Model to Polarisation Curves and Impedance Spectra

A high temperature PEM (HTPEM) fuel cell model capable of simulating both steady state and dynamic operation is presented. The purpose is to enable extraction of unknown parameters from sets of impedance spectra and polarisation curves. The model is fitted to two polarisation curves and four impedance spectra measured on a Dapozol 77 MEA. The model is capable of achieving good agreement with the recorded curves. Except at OCV, where the voltage is overpredicted, the simulated polarisation curves deviate maximum 3.0% from the measurements. The impedance spectra deviate maximum 3.7%. The fitted parameter values are within the range reported in literature. The only exception is the catalyst layer acid content, which is an order of magnitude lower. This may derive from acid migration. The model is used to illustrate the effect of reactant dynamics on the impedance spectrum. The model can aid in the analysis of data from degradation tests