模拟PEMFC环境下弹性体垫片材料老化研究

Study on aging of an elastomeric gasket material in simulated PEMFC environments

垫片材料的耐久性和稳定性对质子交换膜燃料电池(PEMFC)密封及其性能至关重要。采用实验的方法研究一种潜在的PEMFC垫片用材料—甲基乙烯基硅橡胶在两种模拟的PEMFC环境下的老化损伤情况。采用光学显微镜和傅里叶转换红外光谱(ATR-FTIR)技术研究试样在模拟的PEMFC环境下其表面形貌和其化学结构的老化损伤。实验结果表明:材料浸泡在模拟的PEMFC环境下发生老化损伤,试样质量损失随着老化时间的增加而增加;光学显微镜观察结果表明:试样表面形貌发生了显著变化,其老化损伤趋势表现为试样表面从光滑到粗糙,到产生微裂纹,再到裂纹扩展;ATR-FTIR实验结果表明,试样表面的化学结构发生了显著的变化。

Chemical and mechanical durability and stability of gasket materials are critical to both sealing and electrochemical performance of proton exchange membrane （PEM） fuel cells. The aging degradation of the methyl vinyl silicone rubber material potential y used as the gasket material of PEM fuel cells was investigated experimental y in two simulated fuel cellenvironments. The optical microscopy and ATR-FTIR were employed to study the aging degradation of surface morphology and chemical structure of the sample in the simulated PEMFC environments. The test results reveal that the gasket material degrades by weight loss for the samples soaked to the simulated PEM fuel cellenvironments, and the weight loss increases with the aging time. The optical microscopy shows that the surface conditions of the samples changes from initial y smooth to rough, crack appearance and final y crack propagation. The ATR-FTIR results indicate that the surface chemistry remarkably changes.