To prepare a high water-holding cathode catalyst layer with good polymer electrolyte fuel cell performance under low humidity conditions, the quantity of water contained in the cathode catalyst layer and behavior of the water detachment were tested by estimating the weight change by thermogravimetry analysis. The results revealed that cell performance under low humidity conditions particularly depended on the water-holding ability of the contained ionomer in the catalyst layer.
Taguchi's method was applied to an MEA design, and identified the robust design conditions. The generic function was defined as the relationship between the fuel gas flow rate and the electric power. The four kinds of control factors for the catalyst layer formation and eight control factors for the geometrical and process parameters of gas diffusing layer (GDL) were selected to optimize the MEA design conditions. These parameters were allocated in the orthogonal arrays of L9 (for the catalyst layer) and L18 (for GDLs) based on the design of experiment (DOE). The robustness and performance were identified of MEA using the indexes called S/N ratio and sensitivity. The variability of the power operated at a large gas flow rate was diminished (within 20%), and the time required for optimum designing was also reduced.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.