Measurement of current-density in PEFC with NMR sensors

In order to improve the power generation performance of polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFC), it is necessary to maintain high current density over the whole area of the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) that includes the additional Pt-carbon particles loaded on the Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) as an electrocatalyst layer. However, the current density generated at the MEA is distributed unevenly due to a lack of hydrogen, flooding, and so on. Therefore, achieving a higher current density in a PEFC requires monitoring the local current density. The local current density in a PEFC can be measured by the frequency shift of the NMR signal received from planar surface coils inserted into the PEFC as sensors. This method is based on the relationship that the spatial gradient of the frequency shifts in NMR signals along the MEA is proportional to the magnetic field strength induced by local current density. In this study, two kinds of MEA were used. One MEA was with the platinum catalyst applied to an area of 50 mm*50 mm. The other MEA was with platinum catalyst over half this area. The distributions of the frequency shift of NMR signals in PEFCs using these two MEAs were measured. These measured distributions of the spatial gradients were in agreement with those obtained by the theoretical-analysis of magnetic fields in PEFC. The spatial distributions of current density generated in PEFCs were obtained from the spatial gradients and theoretical result.