2021/09/29 by Andrei Kulikovsky, Kulikovsky, Andrei
Chemistry · Engineering · Materials Science · #Chemical Physics (physics.chem-ph) #Conducting polymers and applications #Electrochemical Analysis and Applications #FOS: Physical sciences #Fuel Cells and Related Materials
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2109.14341
openalex publication_date 2021/09/29 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Impedance of all oxygen transport processes in PEM fuel cell has negative real part in some frequency domain. A model function (kernel) for calculation of distribution of relaxation times (DRT) of a PEM fuel cell is suggested. The kernel is designed for capturing impedance with negative real part and it stems from the equation for impedance of oxygen transport through the gas--diffusion transport layer (doi:10.1149/2.0911509jes). Using recent analytical solution for the cell impedance it is shown that DRT calculated with the novel K2 kernel correctly captures the GDL transport peak, while the classic DRT based on the RC--circuit (Debye) kernel misses this peak. Employing K2 kernel, analysis of DRT spectra of a real PEMFC is performed. The leftmost on the frequency scale DRT peak represents oxygen transport in the channel, and the rightmost peak is due to proton transport in the cathode catalyst layer. The second, third and fourth peaks exhibit oxygen transport in the GDL, faradaic reactions on the cathode side, and oxygen transport in the catalyst layer, respectively.