Persistent effect test for high temperature resistant integrated microsensor embedded in high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack

This study used micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) technology to develop a high temperature electrochemical environment resistant integrated (temperature, voltage and flow) microsensor on a 40 μm thick stainless steel substrate, the protective layer was made of polyimide (PI) with better temperature tolerance. This study also captured the internal information of local temperature and voltage and flow inside the high temperature fuel cell stack instantly. The 100-h persistent effect test at operating temperature of 160 °C and current 6.28 A validated the reliability of the high temperature electrochemical environment resistant integrated microsensor. The experimental results showed the nonuniform temperature and flow distributions in the high temperature fuel cell stack resulted in high temperature contrast and nonuniform voltage distribution, and there was hot stack.