The conditioning time required for PEFCs to reach either peak performance or system power requirement will have a definite impact on overall system cost. During the past decade, FC research and development has focused its efforts on overcoming several technical barriers (targets) that could compromise the viability of the technology. Performance, cost, and durability are three of the barriers in which a large portion of the efforts were placed. Consequently, this attention led to substantial improvements in the FC materials and components helping meet and or surpass technical targets. While these scientific advances were instrumental in the emergence of pilot Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles; it becomes critical that the conditioning time be minimal in order to produce affordable Fuel Cell systems for large scale production. We will present results on factors that influence the PEFC conditioning time.

The various aspects that can affect the conditioning time include:

1. MEA manufacturing processing conditions (pressing / drying conditions)
2. Electrode Morphology/Engineering (Ionomer/carbon ratio, catalyst and catalyst support materials, membrane (composition, thickness, radical scavenger additives),
3. Conditioning methodology (potential cycling versus steady state)
4. Operating conditions (Temp, relative humidity)