Review of performance recovery procedures applied to Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Vehicles

One of the hurdles to democratize Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs), is the durability of the Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs). A key lever for increasing their lifetime is the regular application of "recovery" cycles, which partly eliminate the reversible losses. In this paper, the reversible losses of fuel cells and their associated recovery mechanisms are first elucidated. This mainly involves reversing the polymer degradation, catalyst contamination and oxidation. Next, the rejuvenation methods from the literature are presented, along with their feasibility within the constraints of an automotive system. These methods are mainly: water saturated operation, voltage reduction/cycling, and gas flushing. On a vehicle, these conditions are reached respectively by "cold operation", cathode starvation, and shutdowns. Future recovery solutions may require applying the procedure to a stationary FCEV in a service center, to overcome system constraints.