PEM fuel cell cathode carbon corrosion due to the formation of air/fuel boundary at the anode

The impacts of unprotected start up and shut down on fuel cell performance degradation was investigated using both single cell and dual cell configurations. It was found that the air/fuel boundary developed at the anode side after a fuel cell shut down or during its restart caused extremely quick degradation of the cathode. The thickness, the electrochemical active surface area, and the performance of the cathode catalyst layer were significantly reduced. By using a dual cell configuration, cathode potential as high as two times of open circuit voltage was measured, and the corrosion current flowing externally between the two cells was detected and quantified. Carbon catalyst-support corrosion/oxidation at such a high potential was largely responsible for the accelerated fuel cell performance degradation.