Rubber gaskets for fuel cells-Life time prediction through acid ageing

The present paper reports the life time prediction of Acrylonitrile-Butadiene rubber (NBR) fuel cell gasket materials as a function of operational variables like acid concentration, ageing time and temperature. Both material and accelerated acid-heat aging tests were carried out to predict the useful life of the NBR rubber gasket for use as a fuel cell stack. The acid ageing of the gasket compounds has been investigated at 120, 140 and $160^{\circ}C$, with aging times from 3 to 600 h and increasing acid ($H_2SO_4$) concentrations of 5, 6, 7 and 10 vol%. Material characteristics the gas compound such as cross-link density, tensile strength and elongation at break were studied. The hardness of the NBR rubber was found to decrease with decreasing acid concentration at both 120 and $140^{\circ}C$, but at $160^{\circ}C$ interestingly the hardness of the NBR rubber increased abruptly in a very short time at different acid concentrations. The tensile strength and elongation at break were found to decrease with increase in both the acid concentrate ion & temperature. The life time of the compounds were evaluated using the Arrhenius equation.