Membrane Science Commons^™

Study Of Ionic Conductivity Profiles Of The Air Cathode Of A Pemfc By Ac Impedance Spectroscopy, Qingzhi Guo, Maria Cayetana, Yu-Min Tsou, Emory S. De Castro, Ralph E. White

Faculty Publications

A characterization of the ionic conduction of the active layer of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) cathode by ac impedance measurement at open-circuit potential conditions was conducted. Porous electrode theory was used to derive a compact equation, ∂2Φ̑2/∂y2+∂lnf(y)/∂y×∂Φ̑2/∂y−R/f(y)(1+jΩ)Φ̑2=0, to solve for the impedance response of a cathode at open-circuit potential conditions. This equation includes a parameter R, the ratio of an ionic resistance (evaluated at the active layer/membrane interface), to the total charge-transfer resistance of the active layer. The influence of an assumed ionic conductivity distribution profile f(y) on the error in the estimation of total double-layer …