Abstract

Honda’s newly structured fuel cell stack features a Unitized Electrode Assembly, which consists of a Membrane Electrode Assembly that generates electricity and an outer resin frame structure. Specifications of the Unitized Electrode Assembly were developed that have greater durability and lower cost than the previous fuel cell stack, while maintaining its output performance. Specifically, the amount of Pt was reduced to 1/5 that of the previous specifications due to increased activity by using a Pt alloy catalyst for the electrode catalyst, and the thickness of the electrolyte membrane was reduced to 3/5. For the outer resin structure, the cost was reduced to less than half that of the previous injection-molded product by using a general-purpose resin film.As for the durability associated with the above-mentioned changes, the researchers developed degradation models for the various components of the Unitized Electrode Assembly and worked to increase the accuracy of those models. These efforts achieved both increased durability and lower costs by reflecting the material specification limit ranges in operation control based on the models obtained.

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Author (organization or company)

• Takashi KATO（Innovative Research Excellence, Power Unit & Energy）
• Akira NAKAHARA（Innovative Research Excellence, Power Unit & Energy）
• Takuya OHKURA（Innovative Research Excellence, Power Unit & Energy）
• Masakuni YAMAMOTO（Innovative Research Excellence, Power Unit & Energy）
• Satoru TERADA（Innovative Research Excellence, Power Unit & Energy）
• Akihiro NODA（Innovative Research Excellence, Power Unit & Energy）
• Nagayuki KANAOKA（American Honda Motor Co., Inc.）

Publication Information

Article of Honda R&D Technical Review Vol.37 (27 - 33)

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