A review of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell durability test protocols

Durability is one of the major barriers to polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) being accepted as a commercially viable product. It is therefore important to understand their degradation phenomena and analyze degradation mechanisms from the component level to the cell and stack level so that novel component materials can be developed and novel designs for cells/stacks can be achieved to mitigate insufficient fuel cell durability.

It is generally impractical and costly to operate a fuel cell under its normal conditions for several thousand hours, so accelerated test methods are preferred to facilitate rapid learning about key durability issues. Based on the US Department of Energy (DOE) and US Fuel Cell Council (USFCC) accelerated test protocols, as well as degradation tests performed by researchers and published in the literature, we review degradation test protocols at both component and cell/stack levels (driving cycles), aiming to gather the available information on accelerated test methods and degradation test protocols for PEMFCs, and thereby provide practitioners with a useful toolbox to study durability issues.

These protocols help prevent the prolonged test periods and high costs associated with real lifetime tests, assess the performance and durability of PEMFC components, and ensure that the generated data can be compared.