About the Necessity to Consider Membrane Electrolyte Degradation Statistically

Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs) are subjected to aging under pure mechanical, pure chemical and the combination of both stressors. Progression of degradation leads to membrane failures. In this study, seven different accelerated stress test (AST) protocols are applied to degrade two types of commercially available membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) to demonstrate the necessity to evaluate lifetime of this system with statistical methods. In total, data from 56 samples is reported. Membrane lifetime is derived from hydrogen crossover and open circuit voltage (OCV) which is tracked over the course of degradation. The characteristic membrane lifetime distribution of each AST protocol is described via a cumulative Weibull distribution function (CDF). As a result, the scatter of lifetime distribution correlates with the lifetime itself and thus conclude that less repeats are required for ASTs creating short lifetimes compared to those causing long lifetimes. As the latter is required especially for membrane lifetime prediction, these conclusions are relevant for anybody designing the lifetime of PEMFC stacks.