Enhanced Water Management in PEMFCs: Perforated Catalyst Layer and Microporous Layers

Mohseninia, Arezou; Kartouzian, Dena; Schlumberger, Robert; Markötter, Henning; Wilhelm, Florian; Scholta, Joachim; Manke, Ingo

doi:10.1002/cssc.202000542

Cited by 30 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 22 publications

(22 reference statements)

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“…The inductive loop was attributed to oscillations in the ionomer water content induced by oscillations of the amount of produced water during the measurements. The effect of the catalyst layer and cathode microporous perforation on the water management and performance was studied and reported [ 376 ]. Results revealed that under humid conditions, the perforated layers enhanced the liquid water transport under the channel regions.…”

Section: Pemfc Water Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs): Advances and Challenges

Tellez-Cruz¹,

et al. 2021

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The study of the electrochemical catalyst conversion of renewable electricity and carbon oxides into chemical fuels attracts a great deal of attention by different researchers. The main role of this process is in mitigating the worldwide energy crisis through a closed technological carbon cycle, where chemical fuels, such as hydrogen, are stored and reconverted to electricity via electrochemical reaction processes in fuel cells. The scientific community focuses its efforts on the development of high-performance polymeric membranes together with nanomaterials with high catalytic activity and stability in order to reduce the platinum group metal applied as a cathode to build stacks of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) to work at low and moderate temperatures. The design of new conductive membranes and nanoparticles (NPs) whose morphology directly affects their catalytic properties is of utmost importance. Nanoparticle morphologies, like cubes, octahedrons, icosahedrons, bipyramids, plates, and polyhedrons, among others, are widely studied for catalysis applications. The recent progress around the high catalytic activity has focused on the stabilizing agents and their potential impact on nanomaterial synthesis to induce changes in the morphology of NPs.

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Section: Pemfc Water Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs): Advances and Challenges

Tellez-Cruz¹,

et al. 2021

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“…Govindarajan et al 75 studied the behavior of carbon porosity on the performance of cathode MPL in PEMFCs and reported that textural pores in carbon structures are critical in the water management of fuel cell when operating under high humidity conditions. Mohseninia et al 76 examined the impact of structural modification of MPL and CL on the behavior and water management of PEMFFCs with a focus on the hydrophobicity and porosity. Their finding revealed that while the parallel two‐phase flow was enabled when oxygen was transported through small pores, the water was also preferentially transported through the bigger pores.…”

Section: Basic Pemfc Operationmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of gas diffusion layer properties and water management in proton exchange membrane fuel cell system

2020

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Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) can intensely lessen the emissions from the energy sector through environmentally friendly attributes. This evaluation paper summarizes the key additives of the PEMFC which are associated with water formation and delivery inside the cell. The gas diffusion layer (GDL) plays a key role in reactant gas diffusion and water control in proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. This paper also reviews updated literature regarding various hydrophobic and hydrophilic materials used for the improvement of the GDL and overall PEMFC performance. A style of carbon and steel-based microporous substrates (MPS) and microporous layer (MPL) and their impact in GDL overall performance are provided. Materials' properties that affect the performance of the MPL consisting of pore sizes, porosity, and permeability are additionally reviewed. Visualization of water in the flow channel and techniques to understand the mechanism of flow is reported. The failure modes related to the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) and typical PEMFC degradation are discussed. Prospects for development and addressing the water management and degradation of PEMFC through the exploration of further experimental and numerical studies are presented. Highlights • Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) can be a good candidate for several applications • The material property of the GDL influences the overall fuel performance • Water transport if not properly managed can cause poor performance and failure of the fuel cell • There is need to understand how the fuel cell failure is related to the

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“…A MPL loaded with 20 wt % PTFE led to the best fuel-cell performance, which was attributed to enhanced oxygen transport in the cathodic CL and corresponding GDL. Similarly, Mohseninia et al 20 adjusted the pore size distribution in MPLs by adding a polymeric pore-forming agent to enhance the liquid water transport of the CL. The impact of pore size was further investigated by Huang et al, 21 who applied numerical simulations to evaluate the impact of a pore-size gradient in an MPL on the transport of water from the GDL on the cathode side of a PEMFC.…”

Section: ■ Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-Performance Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells Enabled by Highly Hydrophobic Hierarchical Microporous Carbon Layers Grafted with Silane

Shi

Zhang

et al. 2023

ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng.

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The employing of a microporous layer (MPL) with an appropriate pore size distribution and hydrophobicity between the carbon paper substrate and catalyst layer of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) plays a decisive role in the management of gas transport and the crucial prevention of water flooding. However, enhancing the performance of PEMFCs by directly altering the structure of MPL has rarely been reported. The present work addresses this issue by fabricating hierarchical porous carbon (HPC) enabled MPLs via a dual template method employing zinc oxide and sodium chloride, and a silane-coupling agent is chemically grafted to HPC components of the MPL to improve water drainage instead of applying a conventional hydrophobic treatment. The physical and electrochemical properties of gas diffusion layers formed with different MPLs are analyzed, and the results indicate that the proposed MPL with excellent water drainage and efficient gas transport capability facilitates a higher output power density (863.62 mW cm–2) and lower mass transport impedance superior to a conventional MPL. This work provides a generic and feasible structure design for the development of MPLs that significantly improves the performance of PEMFCs.

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Enhanced Water Management in PEMFCs: Perforated Catalyst Layer and Microporous Layers

Cited by 30 publications

References 22 publications

Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs): Advances and Challenges

Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs): Advances and Challenges

A review of gas diffusion layer properties and water management in proton exchange membrane fuel cell system

High-Performance Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells Enabled by Highly Hydrophobic Hierarchical Microporous Carbon Layers Grafted with Silane

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