Effects of the carbon powder characteristics in the cathode gas diffusion layer on the performance of polymer electrolyte fuel cells

The effects of two different carbon powders (oil-furnace carbon black and acetylene-black) as materials for carbon cloth-based cathode gas diffusion layers on the performance of polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) electrodes were investigated. The carbon powder characteristics affect the reversible potential of the cell (Edegrees) and both the linear and non-linear polarization components. The best fuel cell performance was obtained at an oxygen pressure of 5 atm with acetylene-black in the cathode gas diffusion layer. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.