Hot MEA

An MEA is the individual cell and thus the heart of any polymer fuel cell (PEMFC). “HotMEA” refers to fuel cells working at higher temperature than conventional PEMFC. The HotMEA consortium was formed in 2009 to accelerate the development of Danish high temperature PEMFC. The cells operate at temperatures around 160°C in contrast to conventional PEMFC which cannot work at above 80-90 °C. The increased temperature makes the cells less demanding for high purity fuel and the handling of heat and water becomes very simple. This allows for a simplification of the system surrounding the cells and makes a marked cost reduction possible. During the project a significant development has taken place of processes for production of ion conductive polymer membranes, better catalysts and electrodes, MEAs with improved performance and viability for integration in stacks. The cells have been tested individually as well as in stacks and it is evident that the consortium has obtained cell performance at the international state-of-the-art level. Finally, the HotMEA Consortium hosted the 3rd international Carisma Conference with participation from 20 countries.