The autonomous test electrode assembly, the
EasyTest Cell, will be described in a detailed constructional version. The testing opportunities offered by the system will be discussed.
Some instructive examples will be given including: performance characteristics of the gas diffusion electrode and disclosure
of transport limitations. Pt load optimization studies will be demonstrated.
Testing procedures, including performance characteristics and service life of electrochemical energy converting (EcEC) cells
based on gas reactions can be very arduous and burdensome. The main reason for the problem is the need of constant reagent
supply under strongly controlled conditions and composition, impeding greatly the experiment.
With reversible gas reactions, e.g. the hydrogen-oxygen-water electrochemical system, the consumed reagents in the cell under
study, the test cell (TC), can be recovered quantitatively in a second, reagent recovery cell (RRC) connected in series with
the first. If the reagent gas compartments of both cells are connected in a proper way the products of the RRC can be supplied
to the reagent gas compartments of the TC, so that the system can be isolated from the environment and be run completely autonomously
in a “close circuit material circulation”, as already discussed in the first lecture.