Quality control for high volume manufacture of fuel cells and electrolysers

Hydrogen is rapidly gaining traction as a key element of a low carbon economy, potentially meeting 24% of world energy needs by 2050. Fuel cells and electrolysers are key enabling technologies for green hydrogen, and their commercial production is accelerating. A major priority for manufacturers is ensuring the quality of catalyst coated membranes (CCMs) during mass manufacture as failure of a single component is a critical safety issue. The structure of a CCM is complex, with thin layers of catalytic and ion-conducting functional materials requiring sub-micrometre scale tolerance across several m2 of CCM per stack.
This project will develop rapid, high accuracy electrode characterisation techniques suitable for advanced quality inspection tools in industry. Central to the proposal is the development of a fully instrumented electrochemical test cell, which will integrate several operando characterisation techniques, such as current mapping, cyclic voltammetry, impedance spectroscopy, optical and infrared imaging, Raman spectroscopy and online gas analysis, to allow both rapid characterisation of electrodes for quality control and a deeper understanding of degradation mechanisms occurring in electrodes. The project will address the scientific challenges of correlating analytical data with cell performance in a high throughput setting to produce a highly novel, powerful analytical tool that will lead to increased reliability of device performance and reduced waste during manufacture.