An experimental study on the placement of reference electrodes in alkaline polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

The ability to accurately measure separate in situ anode and cathode overpotentials and impedance responses is still a source of debate when investigating fuel cells of planar configuration containing <100 μm thickness solid electrolytes and when using the common three-electrode arrangement. The results obtained in this study indicate that the overpotentials and impedances of the anode and cathode can be successfully measured when using two spatially separated reference electrodes and when the cathode and anode of alkaline membrane electrode assemblies (for alkaline polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells) are precisely and optimally misaligned. The frequency dependent response between the two reference electrodes is attributed to the membrane response and the “crosstalk” between anode and cathode.