Impact of Gas Diffusion Layers (GDLs) on Water Transport in PEFCs

Tanuma, Toshihiro; Kinoshita, Shinji

doi:10.1149/2.054202jes

Cited by 31 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…The CB is Vulcan XC-72R by Cabot Corporation. The novel hydrophilic MPL developed by Tanuma et al, 14,15 Figure 2. Relationship between the wettability and the pore diameter of the MPL in the investigations here.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of Water Transport inside Hydrophilic Carbon Fiber Micro-Porous Layers with High-Performance Operation in PEFC

Aoyama

Tabe

Nozaki

et al. 2018

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells using a hydrophilic micro-porous layer (MPL) consisting of carbon fiber (CF) and ionomer show better performance than those using conventional hydrophobic MPL with carbon black (CB) under a wide range of humidity conditions. This study investigates the effects of the wettability and structure of the MPL on cell performance and discusses the mechanism for improving cell performance by the hydrophilic CF-MPL at high humidity conditions. The water distribution inside the MPL is evaluated by a freezing method and cryo-SEM observations, and a comparison of the distribution and the cell performance of hydrophilic and hydrophobic MPL cells with various structures is made. The results show that the performance improvement is caused by preventing increases in concentration overvoltage at high current densities; where the fiber structure and thicker layers are important with hydrophilic MPL. In hydrophilic CF-MPL with better performance, liquid water accumulates in pores at the catalyst layer (CL) side, while there is no liquid water at the gas diffusion layer side. These results indicate that the hydrophilic CF-MPL enhances the liquid water transport from the CL due to the hydrophilic properties, and promotes water evaporation due to the large pores in the thick fiber structure.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of Water Transport inside Hydrophilic Carbon Fiber Micro-Porous Layers with High-Performance Operation in PEFC

Aoyama

Tabe

Nozaki

et al. 2018

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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“…In order to avoid the flooding, most gas diffusion layers (GDLs) at cathode in PEMFCs are treated with hydrophobic material to keep water out (21)(22)(23). Contrary to this effect with hydrophobic treatment, some articles suggest that cathode GDL with hydrophilic treatment invites higher performance (24)(25). These controversial issue regarding wettability is possible to happen in the PEMWE case.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Cathode Current Collector on High Temperature PEM Water Electrolysis

Inada

Nakajima

et al. 2015

ECS Trans.

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The effect of cathode current collectors on polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) was evaluated with I-V and I-high frequency resistance (HFR) characteristics. Results reveal that cathode current collectors can impact water electrolysis performance by controlling the amount of water accumulation there, which is proved with overpotential analysis and systematic operation such as feeding additional nitrogen gas to cathode. The hydrophilic cathode current collectors invited better performance than hydrophobic ones, because the hydrophilic ones gives less water accumulation there and enough water content in catalyst coated membrane (CCM). The thickness of cathode current collector did not impact the performance.

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“…The MEA is sandwiched between two GDLs. We reported (1,2) that MEA performance is largely dependent of the combinations of hydrophobic and hydrophilic materials used for anode and cathode GDLs; the best performance was obtained for the MEA using a hydrophilic GDL for the cathode. We also showed (3) the difference in MEA structure and performance between the MEA using a hydrophobic MPL for the cathode GDL and that using a hydrophilic single-layer MPL for the cathode GDL.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Cathode Fabrication on MEA Performance in PEFCs

Tanuma

Kinoshita

2013

ECS Trans.

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We reported that the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) using a hydrophilic micro porous layer (MPL) showed much better performance in a wide range of pressure and humidity conditions than that using a hydrophobic MPL. When operating an MEA, it usually needs to be humidified in order to maintain conductivity of the membrane. However, operation without humidification is critical to the commercialization of polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) for backup power and automotive applications. We, therefore, evaluated MEAs at 60 ºC, at the H 2 /air stoichiometric ratio of 1.4/5.0, without humidification, in addition to the normal conditions of 80 ºC, 100 & 30 %RH. We found that the MEA employing a Gas Diffusion Electrode (GDE) method on the hydrophilic MPL showed the best performance under a very dry condition, suggesting the importance of the interface between the cathode and the MPL.

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Impact of Gas Diffusion Layers (GDLs) on Water Transport in PEFCs

Cited by 31 publications

References 22 publications

Analysis of Water Transport inside Hydrophilic Carbon Fiber Micro-Porous Layers with High-Performance Operation in PEFC

Analysis of Water Transport inside Hydrophilic Carbon Fiber Micro-Porous Layers with High-Performance Operation in PEFC

Impact of Cathode Current Collector on High Temperature PEM Water Electrolysis

Impact of Cathode Fabrication on MEA Performance in PEFCs

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