Rational design of carbon network structure in microporous layer toward enhanced mass transport of proton exchange membrane fuel cell

Coaly Graphite as an Eco-Friendly Material in the Microporous Layer of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

“…CB + 50% CG has a more than two times increase compared to CB, which can be attributed to the introduction of the large specific surface area of the CG flake structure. Also, CB + 50% CG + GO shows an increase in the specific surface area compared to CB, but not a much higher increase compared to CB + CG, as GO is a plane structure that can form a network to link dispersed carbon materials (similar to the carbon nanotube 35 ), which forms surface contact with CG, thus reduce the specific surface area compared with CB + 50% CG. This is the reason the specific surface area for CB is close to CB + 50% CG + GO.…”

“…In the case of high-humidity conditions, it has been reported that the only transport pathway for water through carbon black is their cracks, 35 which increases the difficulty for water to be removed under high-humidity conditions. The flooding is severe for the CB-based MPL, as shown in Figure 6c, which is in agreement with the polarization curve shown in Figure 5b, as the voltage drop at 800−1100 mA cm −2 is rapid.…”

Effects of Compression and Porosity Gradients on Two-Phase Behavior in Gas Diffusion Layer of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

“…The inhomogeneous deformation of the GDL by compression not only results in the stress concentration phenomenon at the interface between the GDL and the rib but also significantly affects the water transport process in the GDL. The pore region of the GDL is employed for reactive gas diffusion and liquid water removal, so the design of the GDL highly influences the two-phase behavior within the GDL [ 4 ]. Additionally, factors affecting water transport within the GDL also include the structural parameters, rib-channel width ratio, wettability, and microporous layer (MPL) [ 5 ].…”

Slip-Enhanced Transport by Graphene in the Microporous Layer for High Power Density Proton-Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

“…A repeated fuel cell performance test, but at a lower gas flow rate and higher operating temperature (80 °C) is shown in Figures S3 and S4, where medium humidity has a high power density. High humidity tends to accumulate water and block the gas transport pathway, − while low humidity with a low gas flow rate leads to insufficient humidified PEM and reduces proton conductivity, so that the medium humidity condition results in a high power density. Furthermore, adding graphene can introduce longitudinal meso- and macropores and provide strong adhesion to the CL, which increases the water retention ability, becoming beneficial to increasing the power density at low humidity and promising for self-breathing applications.…”

“…The R Ω is smaller for s-Gr+CB-MPLbased fuel cells compared with CB-MPL, which supports the result in Figure 2e that reducing surface resistance indeed improves the power density, in line with previous reports. 48,54,55 The transport resistance has a decreasing tendency when the cathode dew point increases; the R mt of the fuel cell containing s-Gr+CB-MPL has a significant decrease compared with that of CB-MPL. Especially for the 80 °C cathode dew point, the R mt has an 83% decrease, which shows improved water management and gas transport.…”