(Invited) Benchmarking and Protocol Development for Data Comparison Between Laboratories

Comparison of the performance and durability of fuel cell materials and components across laboratories is a challenging undertaking that requires attention to detail with respect to test hardware, protocols, operating conditions and instrument calibration. NREL has fuel cell capabilities ranging from materials to component and systems research. At the materials level, research is being conducted on novel electrocatalyst synthesis methods. These materials are screened in rotating disk electrodes for ORR activity and cyclic durability and compared to statistically reproducible benchmark values for commercial Pt/C using test protocols specifically developed for this purpose. At the component level, research includes studying the effects of contaminants that originate from stack and balance of plant materials. To enable a comparison between the data of the laboratories participating in these studies a significant effort was made to benchmark test stations to achieve identical results for identical tests and operating conditions.

This presentation will focus on the challenges encountered and solutions found when developing test protocols for benchmarking electrocatalyst performance via RDE experiments. It will also cover strategies for comparing and reporting on single cell performance with and without contaminants across collaborating industry, university institutions and national labs.