(94i) Investigation of the Effect of Chloride Contamination on Pem Fuel Cell Performance

In this work we studied the effect of hydrogen chloride contaminated air on fuel cell performance. Data are presented for Gore's advanced PRIMERA® membrane electrode assembly (MEA) series 5510 exposed to concentrations (0.5, 5, 100 ppm) of anhydrous hydrogen chloride in air with dry cathode at atmospheric conditions and 70^oC cell temperature. A 25 cm² laboratory-scale proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) employed with CARBEL^TM GDM CL gas diffusion media (GDM) was used for the experiments in this study. Steady-state polarization curves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy were used to access cell performance. All transient poisoning and recovery measurements were conducted at a constant voltage of 0.6V and a constant Anode/Cathode flow rate of 193/805 sccms corresponding to a current of 23 A for 20% excess H₂ and 100% Air. The polarization data obtained after final recovery shows up to 26% loss in performance for both 0.5 and 5 ppm HCL/Air at a current density of 600 mA/cm² which indicates an irreversible effect of HCL poisoning. Dosage effects were confirmed from observed differences in the percent loss in current density between poisoning cycles for both cases. The techniques developed in this investigation can be further developed for other sensitive gas contaminants.