Current Interrupt Technique to Fully Characterize PEMWE Cells

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Original languageEnglish
Article number034509
Number of pages12
JournalJournal of the Electrochemical Society
Volume171
Issue number3
Publication statusPublished - 18 Mar 2024

Abstract

It is common practice to characterize cells in polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and Tafel analysis, which require special equipment and operation procedures. Additionally, these techniques are not suitable for large industrial size cells with very low impedances. We present a simpler approach based on a novel evaluation of the current interrupt (CI) technique. The CI technique utilizes the voltage response after an instantaneous drop of electric current to identify the ohmic resistance R Ω, charge transfer resistance R ct and double-layer capacity C dl in a simplified equivalent circuit (EC) of the cell. A direct link to results of typical EIS and Tafel analysis can be defined by using the improved CI method which considers a non-linear activation resistance instead of a constant charge transfer resistance. Thereby, access to equivalent information as the established standard method is granted, while being applicable to all cell and stack sizes without requiring special equipment (e.g. impedance spectrometer). The agreement with experimental data is significantly improved over the assumption of a constant charge transfer coefficient. Consistency of the proposed interpretation with explicit EIS and Tafel analysis is demonstrated and options for industrial application of the evaluation scheme are discussed.

Keywords

    electrochemical engineering, energy conversion, Fuel Cells—PEM, industrial electrolysis

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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Cite this

Current Interrupt Technique to Fully Characterize PEMWE Cells. / Krenz, Tobias; Gottschalk, Torben; Helmers, Lennard et al.
In: Journal of the Electrochemical Society, Vol. 171, No. 3, 034509, 18.03.2024.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer review

Krenz T, Gottschalk T, Helmers L, Trinke P, Bensmann B, Hanke-Rauschenbach R. Current Interrupt Technique to Fully Characterize PEMWE Cells. Journal of the Electrochemical Society. 2024 Mar 18;171(3):034509. doi: 10.1149/1945-7111/ad3057
Krenz, Tobias ; Gottschalk, Torben ; Helmers, Lennard et al. / Current Interrupt Technique to Fully Characterize PEMWE Cells. In: Journal of the Electrochemical Society. 2024 ; Vol. 171, No. 3.
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AU - Gottschalk, Torben

AU - Helmers, Lennard

AU - Trinke, Patrick

AU - Bensmann, Boris

AU - Hanke-Rauschenbach, Richard

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