This talk will discuss several characterization techniques that have traditionally been used to characterize the performance and durability of fuel cells and discuss their implications to electrolysis systems. With the announcement of the DOE’s hydrogen shot to get the price of clean hydrogen to $1/kg in a decade, there has been an increased emphasis on improving the durability of Polymer electrolyte membrane electrolysis systems. This talk will discuss various in-operando, in-situ and ex-situ characterization techniques used to study and track the durability of both electrolysis and fuel cell systems. The presentation will include work from the DOE’s Million Mile Fuel Cell Truck (M₂FCT) and Hydrogen from Next generation of Electrolyzers of Water (H₂NEW) consortiums.

In specific, the talk will discuss various electrochemical characterization techniques including cyclic voltammograms, Impedance Spectroscopy and limiting current measurements that can be used to highlight changes in the polarization behavior of fuels cells and electrolyzers. We will also discuss the usefulness of Fluoride emission rate of the effluent water and CO₂ concentration in the exhaust in tracking membrane and carbon degradation respectively. Finally, we will present results from various in-situ/ex-situ techniques including Xray analysis and microscopy to track changes in catalyst composition and morphology over time and correlate those changes to device performance.