Development of MEA for Fuel Cell Powered Vehicles

The importance of e-vehicle has grown rapidly due to the shortage and high price of crude oil. Fuel cell powered e-vehicle has advantage in zero-emission, soundless driving, and quick fuel recharging time. However, it also has disadvantage in high manufacturing cost and durability issue. The development of fuel cell main component materials such as MEA, electrocatalyst and membrane has close relationship with the efficiency, durability and cost of fuel cell system. Recently, the concern about the durability of fuel cell system is focused because the lifetime is most important in market. The required lifetime of fuel cell in FCV is 5,000 hours and it is a tough target considering harsh driving condition and frequent start and stop of vehicle. The performance and durability of MEA is mainly dependent on the electrocatalyst and membrane. The degradation behavior of electrocatalyst and membrane are studied using various methods. We are aiming to develop MEA with high performance and durability for FCV through the research of electrocatalyst, membrane and MEA manufacturing.