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- In relation to this article, we declare that there is no conflict of interest.
- Publication history
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Received February 7, 2024
Accepted May 1, 2024
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This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bync/3.0) which permits
unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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Change of Mechanical Properties of e-PTFE Support by Electrochemical Degradation in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11814-024-00182-6
Abstract
In polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), the cost and durability are main challenges to commercialization. To
achieve the long-term durability target, the durability of PEMFC materials should be further improved. In this paper, we
investigated the chemical and electrochemical degradation of the expanded polytetrafl uoroethylene (e-PTFE) support and
examined how it infl uences the mechanical properties of the e-PTFE support. We conducted the Fenton test and open circuit
voltage (OCV) holding and analyzed the chemical and physical structural changes of the e-PTFE support by utilizing Fourier
transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and tensile test. After the chemical
and electrochemical degradations, the molecular bonds of e-PTFE were broken, and the microstructures of e-PTFE were
deformed. As the result the mechanical properties of e-PTFE showed signifi cant decrease. Consequently, our results show
that the e-PTFE support is deteriorated chemically during PEMFC operation, and this chemical degradation lead reduction
of mechanical strength.
