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Workpackage 1: Project Management
	D.1.1 – TRUST reporting 2019 - CONFIDENTIAL Annual data reporting (TRUST) has been completed for GAIA for the template: Fuel cell research at stack level or lower.
	D.1.2 – Project shared workspace implemented and operational - CONFIDENTIAL To fulfil two fundamental internal project communication requirements: i) efficient exchange between partners of information about GAIA project ii) decentralised and secured archiving of the documents generated, one independent and secured web-based communication tool: Project Shared Workplace – PSW has been implemented with a restricted access for project partners only. Among all the functionalities installed on this PSW, for now partners have a total access to the following tools: Document sharing and archiving Meeting organization General project communication Online working document The PSW maintenance is therefore an on-going activity that will go along with the project lifetime
	D.1.3 – Mid-term report submitted - CONFIDENTIAL Parts A and B of the RP1 progress reporting were submitted on 10th September 2020.
	D.1.4 – TRUST reporting 2020 - CONFIDENTIAL Annual data reporting (TRUST) for the calendar year 2020 has been completed for GAIA for the template · Fuel cell research at stack level or lower
	D.1.5 – TRUST reporting 2021 - CONFIDENTIAL Annual data reporting (TRUST) for the calendar year 2021 has been completed for GAIA for the template · Fuel cell research at stack level or lower
	D1.6: Final Reporting Completed - CONFIDENTIAL Parts A and B of the RP2 progress reporting are complete and ready for submission. All deliverable and milestone reports have been submitted.
	D1.7 - M19-M36 Progress Report – CONFIDENTIAL GAIA has continued to make excellent progress across the work packages dedicated to catalyst, support, ionomer, membrane, and MEA development. It has continued to introduce new materials concepts and CCM constructions, and to characterise them using a broad range of advanced techniques, local probes, and operando methods. GAIA's project team has driven the project achievements to reach the M30 performance target of 1.8 W/cm2 at 0.6 V. It has identified the components undergoing degradation in automotive drive cycle testing, and has introduced measures correspondingly, with the aim of achieving the durability target in the final project months.
Workpackage 2: Requirements, Test Methods and Operating Conditions, Benchmarking, Cost assessment
	D.2.1 – Fuel cell operation conditions, performance and durability requirements - CONFIDENTIAL For the use of Membrane-Electrode-Assemblies in future automotive fuel cell systems, the definition of the operating conditions for an efficient and fast development process is crucial. Therefore, Deliverable D2.1 in a very detailed form describes the operating conditions based on virtual fuel cell systems for FCEV. The focus lies on the transfer of fuel cell system operating conditions to available state-of-the-art test rigs located at the individual project partners to obtain fuel cell system relevant results.
	D.2.2 – Decision on bipolar plate hardware and recommendation on small scale test cell Hardware to be used - CONFIDENTIAL The requirements and testing protocols defined in Deliverable D2.1 and in Deliverable D2.3 have to be verified by in situ testing in appropriate cell hardware by systematic test cycles. For this reason, publically available information from other EU FCH JU funded projects (Autostack-Core, INSPIRE, VOLUMETRIQ) was collected and rated according to the needs of GAIA, described in D2.1. Based on this information the decision for automotive stack hardware setup was made with the project partners ZSW and JMFC. Cell hardware for 50 cm² cell testing, especially the flow field design, was shared with JMFC, TUM and CNRS.
	D.2.3 – Test protocols defined and documents issued. Baseline characterisation of state of the art automotive MEAs in full size FC hardware completed - PDF Test protocols for the GAIA Project and documents for the partners for testing are released. The state of the art cells were tested at BMW and the gap according to the project target is defined. Especially at operating points with low current densities the defined project target is reached within 95% of the actual performance. At operating points with high current densities the gap to the project target is much higher and the focus of the GAIA project will be on the increase of the performance at this operating conditions.
	D2.4 - MEA unit cost is calculated and results of cost trade-off analysis report is released - CONFIDENTIAL Deliverable D2.4 describes the cost assessment for all generations of GAIA MEAs, based on the assumptions of a high volume production of 1 million m² per year and a Pt spot price of 1200 €/troy Oz. The MEAs performance was proven by test results in WP6, and used for the correlation to €/kW. The cost assessment for the last generation of GAIA MEA (Gen4) with the highest performance and durability delivered a cost of 9.38 €/kW by considering the recycling of Pt and ionomer. The cost is higher than the target value of 6 €/kW, but lower than the DOE predicted cost in 2017, which is 12.9 €/kW. Further optimisation work needs to be conducted in future programmes, especially on manufacturing, MEA design, and recyclability of components to achieve the cost target. However, the results achieved within GAIA still represent significant progress, compared to previous FCH JU projects.
Workpackage 3: Ionomer, Reinforcement and Membrane
	D.3.1 – Baseline ionomer and reinforcement components delivered - PDF This report identifies the reference membrane and catalyst layer ionomer, the baseline components comprising the baseline membrane, and the baseline catalyst layer ionomer. While “reference” refers here to materials that are already available and in use in industry, “baseline” refers to materials that are at a certain stage of development and that represent a starting point for the development work in GAIA.
	D.3.2 – Supply of improved catalyst layer ionomer with increased O₂ permeability - CONFIDENTIAL Through modifications in the polymer structure, oxygen permeation can be increased of the perfluorosulfonic acid. With the proper modifications the oxygen permeation of the polymer was increased. The viscosity of the dispersions, along with other properties, was maintained as for unmodified PFSAs.
	D3.3 – Supply of components for membrane after first material improvement and membrane fabrication with conventional manufacturing methods - CONFIDENTIAL Development of new PBI blends for electrospun membrane reinforcements allowed the electrospinning output to be increased by a factor of three in comparison with the baseline material, and also gave significantly improved web quality. Using this new electrospun reinforcement type, membranes have been produced at CNRS that show excellent tensile properties.
	D3.4 – Supply of components for membrane after second material improvement in line with target characteristics and novel membrane architecture - CONFIDENTIAL A second generation of material improvement has been brought into GAIA membranes through the use of an alternative ionomer from 3M/Dyneon. This ionomer has been coated into polybenzimidazole-type reinforcements of two different basis weights to produce GAIA membrane types 9 and 10 of thickness 14 and 10 μm respectively. For the first time in an upscaled membrane, an architecture approaching that developed at laboratory scale at was achieved in the second of these membranes, with electrospun web expansion relative to the membrane thickness. Membrane 9 has higher tensile strength than the equivalent made with an ePTFE-type reinforcement, and further ex situ and in situ characterisation of membranes 9 and 10 is being pursued.
	D.3.5 – Realisation of reinforced membrane - CONFIDENTIAL This report demonstrates the work carried out to manufacture and characterise the membrane designed to be used in the MEAs for GAIA Stack 4 durability testing. The membrane characterisation shows that the fully incorporated novel PBI nanofibre web reinforcement imparts good tensile properties even at low basis weight.
Workpackage 4: Catalyst Support and Catalyst Design
	D4.1 - Characterisation method for ionomer-support interaction strength developed - PDF In catalyst inks for PEM fuel cell applications, the interaction carbon support starts at the ink making step and can influence final catalyst layer, including ionic conductivity and mass improve understanding of the way carbon supports and typical interact, this deliverable report summarises attempts to technique capable of quantifying the strength of the interaction. CNRS have validated ITC as being a straightforward method to of the ionomer-carbon interaction. The method is sufficiently discriminate between carbon samples with different degrees of by nitrogen and increasing the nitrogen content of the carbon heat of adsorption of Nafion^® on the modified carbon. At JMFC, changes in the zeta potential for a range of of how the solvent type and concentration govern the charge the ionomer and carbon support. It was clear that in aqueous dispersions of Nafion^®, Vulcan XC72R had a weaker interaction with the ionomer than Ketjen EC300J, due to a lower (less positive) zeta potential. For a straightforward quantification of ionomer-carbon interaction strength, the centrifuge method of measuring the amount of free ionomer was very successful and here it was shown that in mixed aqueous-alcohol dispersions, Vulcan XC72R had a stronger interaction with the ionomer than Ketjen EC300J, in agreement with the zeta potential results for the carbons in the same dispersant, but in contrast to the situation in a purely aqueous system. Fluorine-NMR was found to be less straightforward as a way to measure carbonionomer interaction strength in work at TUM. Despite reports in the literature, this work demonstrated that the signal-to-noise ratio was not sufficient to quantify the interaction at the low ionomer concentrations needed. `In summary, four different techniques were explored, with three of them showing successful quantification of ionomer-support interactions, and the fourth still holding promise of a successful outcome. The early identification and implementation of these techniques within the GAIA project means that WP4 is in a strong position to deliver modified supports that will enable catalyst layers to be designed with the right properties to meet the challenging 1.8 W/cm² target in the project.
	D4.2 - Two candidate supports developed that show improved ionomer interaction strength, sufficient porous structure and improved corrosion resistance compared to the reference support - CONFIDENTIAL The carbon support plays a crucial role in the performance and durability of fuel cell cathodes. The objective of GAIA Task 4.1 is the development of novel catalyst support structures and surfaces that can withstand high electrode potentials, whilst also possessing appropriate porosity and surface properties. CNRS’s approach consisted of modifying a range of carbon black surfaces with nitrogen-containing functionalities to enhance the anchoring of nanocatalysts and of ionomer. This report describes the identification of two candidate supports with improved ionomer interaction strength and corrosion resistance and adapted porosity compared to the reference support, Vulcan XC72R. For this initial down-selection, a range of analytical techniques were employed on pristine and modified carbon blacks to assess the target properties.
	D4.3 - Demonstration of a catalytic entity showing 0.7 A/mg_pt, in an MEA test and a surface area > 40 m²/g_pt after 30,000 cycles from 0.6 to 0.925 V - PDF Pt and Pt alloy oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalysts have been further advanced in the first 18 months of the GAIA project. The project targets for the ORR catalyst were to achieve a mass activity (MA) of at least 0.7 A/mg_Pt within an MEA and to maintain a surface area of at least 40 m²/g_Pt after 30,000 cycles from 0.6 to 0.95 V. At the start of the project, de-alloyed PtNi/C, octahedral PtNiIr/C and Pt-Rare Earth (RE) nanoparticle catalysts were identified as candidates to reach the project mass activity and surface area stability targets. TUB scaled up three octahedral PtNiIr/C catalyst variants from 20 mg to about 800 mg, at Pt loadings of 8% and 15% by weight on Vulcan XC72R carbon. The scaled octahedral PtNiIr/C alloys catalysts were evaluated in the rotating disk electrode (RDE) and demonstrated extremely high initial mass activities of up to 2.3 A/mg_Pt and electrochemical surface areas above 40 m²/g_Pt. Three of these catalyst variants were sent to JMFC for testing in 50 cm²single cells but, unfortunately, in MEAs the MA was only about 0.30 A/mg_Pt. Work at JMFC on carbon-supported de-alloyed 50% PtNi catalysts led to material with an average particle size of 4.5 nm, as measured by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and a surface area of about 65 m²/g Pt. Performance testing in 50 cm² single cells gave a MA of 0.44 A/mg_Pt using a cathode loading of 0.20 mg Pt/cm², but a formulation tested at a reduced cathode loading of 0.10 mg Pt/cm² yielded an excellent MA of 0.89 A/mg_Pt. When this same catalyst was tested for durability in a 50 cm2 single cell using 30,000 cycles (0.6 – 0.925 V) at 80°C, the end of life surface area was 39 m²/g_Pt, only marginally below the end of test target of 40 m2/g_Pt. This catalyst has therefore been considered to meet the targets set for this deliverable D4.3 (demonstration of a catalytic entity showing 0.7 A/mg_Pt in an MEA test and a surface area > 40 m²/g_Pt after 30,000 cycles from 0.6 to 0.925 V) and will be progressed to WP5 for further evaluations. The Pt-RE catalysts being developed at CNRS, TUM and JMFC are also showing promise, with increased surface areas, but are at an earlier stage of development, and are therefore not included in this report.
	D4.4 - Definition of the optimum layer design - CONFIDENTIAL In order to reach an optimum layer design in membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) for high current density operation, the electrode composition with regards to ionomer type and content needs to be carefully chosen. Within this task of the GAIA project, various development level modified ionomers were characterised with respect to their oxygen mass transport properties and compared to a commercial 800 EW reference ionomer provided by Dyneon.
	D4.5: MEA DEMONSTRATED THAT MEETS THE POWER DENSITY TARGET OF 1.8 W/CM2, COMPRISING A HIGH ACTIVITY, HIGH STABILITY CATALYTIC ENTITY AND A CORROSION RESISTANT SUPPORT - CONFIDENTIAL This deliverable demonstrates component identification and integration in collaboration with all WPs in GAIA. This report complements the results reported in D5.3 (CCM development meeting the 1.8 W/cm2 power density target). An improved carbon support type, C4, developed in WP4, was catalysed and characterised in catalyst layers. In addition, an ionomer option from WP3 and catalyst type from WP4 were incorporated into CCMs and tested under a range of operating conditions, in collaboration with WP5 and WP6, to fully evaluate their performance. Stack testing done in collaboration with WP5 and WP6, showed performance under optimised conditions of 1.8 W/cm2 and 1.7 W/cm2 in the 4-cell and 10-cell stacks respectively.
Workpackage 5: CCM Design and Optimisation
	D5.1 – Large single cell commissioned and validated - CONFIDENTIAL Abstract to be released.
	D5.2 – Supply of alternative CCM construction concepts meeting the MS3 1.5W cm^-2 power density target - CONFIDENTIAL The aim of the work presented in this report was to incorporate component improvements delivered in Work Packages 3, 4 and 6 to build on the performance of the Gen 1.0 benchmark MEA and achieve the 1.5 W cm-2 performance target consistent with Milestone 3. Three main areas were addressed in this MEA design. The first was to assess further improved GDL variants. The second area was to address performance loss of the benchmark MEA after operation at the high temperature points in the GAIA test protocol. The third area to be investigated was to incorporate new catalyst materials from Work Package 4.
	D.5.3 – CCM development meeting the 1.8 W/cm² power density target - CONFIDENTIAL Materials advancements from Work Packages 3 and 4 were incorporated into CCMs and tested under a range of operating conditions to fully evaluate their performance. CCMs incorporating the best of these materials combinations were provided for stack testing at 4- and 10-cell stack size. Stack testing showed performance under optimised conditions of 1.8 W/cm² and 1.7 W/cm² in the 4-cell and 10-cell stacks respectively.
	D5.4 – Development of CCMs for validation in short stack meeting MS6 targets - CONFIDENTIAL GAIA GEN 4.0 MEAs have been manufactured and delivered for short stack validation testing. The MEAs use a new reinforced membrane from Work Package 3, and a modified cathode formulation. Quality control data show the parts are leak tight and within dimensional specification.
Workpackage 6: Component Interaction, MEA Performance and Endurance Validation
	D6.1 – First improvements in GDL-MPL for combination with CCM to achieve 1.5 W/cm² AT 0.6 V in full size single cell test - CONFIDENTIAL As an intermediate step towards the project goal of an MEA providing 1.8 W/cm², a microporous layer (MPL) coated gas diffusion layer (GDL) has been developed which, when associated with the benchmark catalyst coated membrane, gives an MEA providing a power densities of up to 1.5 W/cm² @ 0.6 V. The mass transport capability of the MPL was optimised to give better oxygen diffusion. The base substrate was modified to give higher electrical and thermal conductivity by increased carbonisation temperature to yield a carbon-based nonwoven with higher degree of graphitisation. MPL-GDL combinations were characterised ex situ at FPM and distributed to project partners BMW, JMFC and ZSW for single cell and short stack testing.
	D6.2 – Optimised GDL-MPL to achieve 1.8 W/cm2 - CONFIDENTIAL GDL substrates with different electrical and thermal conductivity and MPL coatings with different porosities were tested to find the most suitable GDL/MPL combination to reach the GAIA performance target of 1.8 W/cm2 with the defined stack hardware and MEAs developed in GAIA. With a GDL/MPL combination consisting of a substrate with high graphitization and an open MPL this target was successfully reached with the Gen 3 GAIA MEA.
	D.6.3 –Automotive MEA stack-level validation report - CONFIDENTIAL This report presents the results from the GAIA short stack tests and the development of the performance and durability of the GAIA MEA generations. Furthermore, the optimization of the operating parameters is reported. While the Gen 1 MEA was used to set a benchmark in performance and durability, the following MEA generations were developed to improve the performance especially at high current density operation and durability at high temperature operation to reach the GAIA targets. Thereby, the operation at a current density of 3 A/cm2 and a stack outlet temperature of 105 °C were most challenging. The Gen 3 MEA for the first time reached the GAIA performance target of 1.8 W/cm2 at 0.6 V. With the Gen 4 MEA, the performance target was reached, while the durability target was partially reached.
	D.6.4 –Post-test analysis report - PDF The durability of the first two stack generations did not meet the GAIA durability target of less than 10 % degradation within 6000 operation hours sufficiently. For understanding the present degradation mechanisms, various post-test analyses were performed. Based on the achieved knowledge, the materials for the following stack generations were optimised accordingly to reach the GAIA durability target. A low membrane and ionomer stability at the given operating parameters at high loads of 3 A/cm2 and high temperature of 105 °C were found to be the key points for the occurred degradation and addressed by material changes for the final stack generations.
Workpackage 7: Communication, Dissemination & Maximising Impact
	D.7.1– Project Website - PDF The GAIA project website is designed to fulfil project communication and dissemination needs for the benefit of the scientific community and the public through relevant information including: project overall objectives, partner & work package information project activities: news, meetings project progress: scientific publications, conference presentations, public domain reports project resources: links, related events … project contact information All the partners will collectively participate in the dissemination objective of the website by providing up-to-date information
	D.7.2– Dissemination protocol and knowledge management - CONFIDENTIAL This report presents the dissemination protocol for the GAIA project, the procedure for “Open Access” to peer reviewed research articles, internal rules, information on support from the EU members and the strategy for Knowledge Management within the project.
	D.7.3 – Communication and dissemination pack - PDF During the first 21 months of the GAIA project the consortium undertook various dissemination and communication measures. Target groups include industry, academia, government bodies and the public.
	D7.4: Survey of dissemination activities and final plan for dissemination and exploitation of project results - PDF The GAIA consortium has been very active in disseminating and communicating about the project outputs throughout the duration of the project and despite the pandemic that reduced the number of conferences being held during the second period of the project. The GAIA consortium was very successful in disseminating the project results with the publication of 8 articles in peer-reviewed journals and 12 presentations at international conferences and workshops. Various target groups included industry, academia, government bodies and the public were reached, notably by numerous press releases from the partners. After the end of the project, the consortium will continue to carry out further activities to disseminate and exploit the results.

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D.1.1 – TRUST reporting 2019 - CONFIDENTIAL

D.1.2 – Project shared workspace implemented and operational - CONFIDENTIAL

D.1.3 – Mid-term report submitted - CONFIDENTIAL

D.1.4 – TRUST reporting 2020 - CONFIDENTIAL

D.1.5 – TRUST reporting 2021 - CONFIDENTIAL

D1.6: Final Reporting Completed - CONFIDENTIAL

D1.7 - M19-M36 Progress Report – CONFIDENTIAL

D.2.1 – Fuel cell operation conditions, performance and durability requirements - CONFIDENTIAL

D.2.2 – Decision on bipolar plate hardware and recommendation on small scale test cell Hardware to be used - CONFIDENTIAL

D.2.3 – Test protocols defined and documents issued. Baseline characterisation of state of the art automotive MEAs in full size FC hardware completed - PDF

D2.4 - MEA unit cost is calculated and results of cost trade-off analysis report is released - CONFIDENTIAL

D.3.1 – Baseline ionomer and reinforcement components delivered - PDF

D.3.2 – Supply of improved catalyst layer ionomer with increased O₂ permeability - CONFIDENTIAL

D3.3 – Supply of components for membrane after first material improvement and membrane fabrication with conventional manufacturing methods - CONFIDENTIAL

D3.4 – Supply of components for membrane after second material improvement in line with target characteristics and novel membrane architecture - CONFIDENTIAL

D.3.5 – Realisation of reinforced membrane - CONFIDENTIAL

D4.1 - Characterisation method for ionomer-support interaction strength developed - PDF

D4.2 - Two candidate supports developed that show improved ionomer interaction strength, sufficient porous structure and improved corrosion resistance compared to the reference support - CONFIDENTIAL

D4.3 - Demonstration of a catalytic entity showing 0.7 A/mg_pt, in an MEA test and a surface area > 40 m²/g_pt after 30,000 cycles from 0.6 to 0.925 V - PDF

D4.4 - Definition of the optimum layer design - CONFIDENTIAL

D4.5: MEA DEMONSTRATED THAT MEETS THE POWER DENSITY TARGET OF 1.8 W/CM2, COMPRISING A HIGH ACTIVITY, HIGH STABILITY CATALYTIC ENTITY AND A CORROSION RESISTANT SUPPORT - CONFIDENTIAL

D5.1 – Large single cell commissioned and validated - CONFIDENTIAL

D5.2 – Supply of alternative CCM construction concepts meeting the MS3 1.5W cm^-2 power density target - CONFIDENTIAL

D.5.3 – CCM development meeting the 1.8 W/cm² power density target - CONFIDENTIAL

D5.4 – Development of CCMs for validation in short stack meeting MS6 targets - CONFIDENTIAL

D6.1 – First improvements in GDL-MPL for combination with CCM to achieve 1.5 W/cm² AT 0.6 V in full size single cell test - CONFIDENTIAL

D6.2 – Optimised GDL-MPL to achieve 1.8 W/cm2 - CONFIDENTIAL

D.6.3 –Automotive MEA stack-level validation report - CONFIDENTIAL

D.6.4 –Post-test analysis report - PDF

D.7.1– Project Website - PDF

D.7.2– Dissemination protocol and knowledge management - CONFIDENTIAL

D.7.3 – Communication and dissemination pack - PDF

D7.4: Survey of dissemination activities and final plan for dissemination and exploitation of project results - PDF