Durability is the most pressing issue preventing the efficient commercialization of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) stationary and transportation applications. A big barrier to overcoming the durability limitations is gaining a better understanding of failure modes for user profiles. In addition, durability test protocols for determining the lifetime of PEMFCs are important factors in the development of the technology. These methods are designed to gather enough data about the cell/stack to understand its efficiency and durability without causing it to fail. They also provide some indication of the cell/stack’s age in terms of changes in performance over time. Based on a study of the literature, the fundamental factors influencing PEMFC long-term durability and the durability test protocols for both PEMFC stationary and transportation applications were discussed and outlined in depth in this review. This brief analysis should provide engineers and researchers with a fast overview as well as a useful toolbox for investigating PEMFC durability issues.

To expand the applications of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) stacks, it is essential to address the issue of their short lifetime. Various studies are being conducted to improve this limitation, and efficient methods for verifying durability in a short period of time are required. This study presents a novel dynamic load cycling protocol designed to emulate the real-world driving conditions of commercial vehicles. This protocol was employed as an accelerated degradation test for PEMFC stacks under two elevated temperatures (65 and 80 °C), each conducted for 1000 h. A bi-exponential model, incorporating Arrhenius principles, was fitted to the degradation data. During this process, a mixed effects modeling approach was employed to distinguish between fixed and random effects within the model parameters. The activation energy was consistent across all cells and was thus designated as a fixed effect. Activation energy, which predominantly affects the long-term durability of PEMFC stacks, was estimated as 0.808 eV. By applying this estimated value to the Arrhenius equation, we calculated the acceleration factors for the degradation of fuel cell performance. Specifically, the rate of voltage degradation was found to be approximately 1.516 times faster at 65 °C and 4.923 times faster at 80 °C, compared to the standard operating temperature of 60 °C. Additionally, Monte Carlo simulations were conducted to predict the failure-time distribution under normal use conditions, estimating a median lifetime of 3884 h, which corresponds to 155,360 km of driving. This methodology offers a reliable and time-efficient framework for assessing PEMFC durability, with significant implications for reducing testing costs and accelerating the development of hydrogen fuel cell technology.

This study investigates the operational behavior and voltage stability of a 1 kW-class AIP PEMFC stack under high-pressure H₂ and O₂ conditions. AIP PEMFCs, unlike conventional air-based systems, operate in enclosed environments using stored O₂, requiring designs that minimize parasitic power losses while ensuring stable operation. To establish a performance baseline, single cell tests were conducted to isolate the effects of in-plane components, including the MEA, GDL, and flow field geometry. Results indicated that temperature and pressure significantly influenced performance, whereas humidity and flow rate had minimal effects under the tested conditions. A 27-cell stack was then assembled and evaluated under various current densities, flow rates, and humidity levels. Time-resolved voltage measurements revealed that low flow rates (stoichiometry ≤ 1.5) led to voltage instability, particularly at high humidity and current density. Instability was more pronounced in cells positioned farthest from the inlet and outlet ports. These findings underscore the importance of optimizing operational parameters and stack architecture to achieve stable AIP PEMFC performance under reduced flow conditions. The results provide key insights for developing compact, efficient, and durable AIP fuel cell systems for use in enclosed or submerged environments such as submarines or unmanned underwater vehicles, while highlighting key challenges associated with AIP-targeted applications.