Patent ID: 7906243

Claim:
An accelerated testing method of evaluating a lifespan of a fuel cell including a cathode and an anode which contain respective catalysts and an electrolyte membrane interposed between the anode and the cathode, the method comprising: measuring a cyclic voltammetry (CV) curve of the fuel cell using CV with a scan voltage ranging from a low voltage to a voltage greater than oxidation voltages of the catalysts; a variation in cell performance with respect to a number of CV cycles performed, by investigating a variation in cell potential with respect to the current density of the fuel cell; and determining the lifespan of the fuel cell from a degree of the variation in the cell performance measured, wherein the lifespan of the fuel cell is defined as the number of CV cycles after which the cell potential is reduced to about 25% of the cell potential obtained after 1 CV cycle at a current density of about 200 mA/cm 2 .