Public Abstract: The aim of this work was to conduct testing of the HIGHLANDER baseline CCM (catalyst coated membrane) across a range of diagnostic tests including performance, catalyst accelerated stress tests (AST) and membrane accelerated stress tests, and to develop and apply a LPT (load profile test) to assess the degradation of the HIGHLANDER baseline CCM.

Also included in this work was the evaluation of new catalyst materials and the initial assessment of Solvay ionomer materials into the catalyst layers to progress the design towards the project target KPIs (key performance indicators) of >1.2 W/cm² at 0.65 V, <0.3 g PGM (platinum group metals)/kW and a projected lifetime of 20,000 hrs.