The contribution of the bipolar plate material to the overall degradation of a high temperature membrane electrode assembly (HT MEA) for polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) is studied in terms of performance decrease, phosphoric acid uptake in the bipolar plates and change of surface morphology of the bipolar plates. Two different high temperature graphite composites, a surface treated graphite and a gold coated stainless steel flowfield and the respective MEAs are compared after operation at 180 degrees C. Both graphite surface treatment and gold coating lead to negligible uptake of the electrolyte and ensure low degradation rates, whereas the composite plates exhibit high uptake of acid from the MEA into the surface near bulk. Apparent MEA degradation caused by acid redistribution from the MEA to the increasingly porous plates is observed in terms of increased ohmic cell resistances and reduction of catalyst utilization as consequence of acid loss from the catalyst layers. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.