Disassembly and recycling concepts for PEM fuel cell stacks

Valuable resources and ecological challenges

PEM fuel cells contain precious metals such as platinum as well as fluorine-containing-polymers, which are both ecologically and economically critical. In view of rising production figures, the need for sustainable end-of-life solutions is becoming increasingly urgent in order to recover valuable materials and keep environmentally harmful materials in the cycle.

Automated disassembly and resource-efficient recycling

The project focuses on the development of automated and scalable disassembly that enables component-specific further processing. The aim is to identify reusable components. With the help of a flexibly configurable recycling line, suitable process chains and component-specific processes will be developed and evaluated with the aid of life cycle assessments. The findings from dismantling and recycling investigations will be incorporated into concrete recommendations for a recycling-oriented design of future fuel cell generations.

From pilot scale to industrial application

The process chains developed are intended to identify economically viable ways to keep more materials in the cycle and avoid the currently common – and, due to their fluorine content, particularly problematic – incineration of end-of-life fuel cells. The investigation of the processes on a pilot scale is intended to facilitate transfer to possible industrial applications and thus contribute to the establishment of sustainable solutions in practice.