The lifetime of fuel cells is one of the limiting factors in their large-scale deployment. A good understanding of the mechanisms involved in material degradation is a prerequisite for the development of these solutions, particularly catalyst degradation.
We propose to develop a comprehensive model coupling all the phenomena required to simulate catalyst degradation during cycling at potentials representative of cell use. Studies on the effect of cycling frequency and amplitude will enable us to define a validation experiment.
A first existing degradation model will be validated, then coupled to an oxidation model. We will also study the relevance/necessity of taking other reaction paths into account. The complete model will be implemented in a 2D model capable of simulating cells representative of an operational fuel cell.
The subject is therefore mainly numerical simulation with an experimental component. The thesis will be supervised and accompanied by three experts respectively in electrochemistry, numerical simulation and experiment on fuel cells.