Journal
ADVANCED MATERIALS INTERFACES
Volume 6, Issue 21, Pages -Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/admi.201901157
Keywords
graded poly(tetrafluoroethylene); liquid water removal; polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells; porous materials; synchrotron X-ray radiographic imaging
Funding
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
- NSERC Canada Research Chairs Program
- Canada Foundation for Innovation
- David Sanborn Scott Fellowship
- Bert Wasmund Graduate Scholarships in Sustainable Energy Research
- Pierre Rivard Hydrogenics Graduate Fellowship
- University of Toronto
- Connaught International Scholarship for Doctoral Students
- MercedesBenz Canada Graduate Fellowship in Fuel Cell Research
- William Dunbar Memorial Scholarship in Mechanical Engineering
- MercedesBenz Canada Graduate Fellowship for Fuel Cell Research
- Ara Mooradian Scholarship
- Mercedes-Benz Canada Graduate Fellowship in Fuel Cell Research
- HATCH Graduate Scholarship
- David Sanborn Scott & Ron D. Venter Fellowship
- NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarship
- Ontario Graduate Scholarship
- William Dunbar Memorial Scholarship
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
- University of Saskatchewan
- Government of Saskatchewan
- Western Economic Diversification Canada
- National Research Council Canada
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research
- CLS Post-Doctoral and Graduate Student Travel Support Program
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A novel microporous layer (MPL) is designed and fabricated with spatially graded poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) to alleviate liquid water flooding in the cathode gas diffusion layer (GDL) of the polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell. In operando GDL liquid water distributions are examined using synchrotron X-ray radiography and oxygen mass transport resistance via electrochemical characterizations, and it is found that the graded PTFE content in the MPL results in enhanced PEM fuel cell performance at high current densities (>= 1.0 A cm(-2)). Specifically, less liquid water accumulates within the cathode GDL substrate, and the oxygen mass transport resistance is substantially lowered. This lower substrate water content is attributed to enhanced capillary-driven removal of liquid water through the use of the graded MPL. This study demonstrates how strongly the spatial distributions of wettability and pore size of the MPL influence the performance of the PEM fuel cell.
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