Thermal conductivity in the three layered regions of micro porous layer coated porous transport layers for the PEM fuel cell

Burheim, Odne Stokke; Crymble, Gregory A; Bock, Robert; Hussain, Nabeel; Pasupathi, Sivakumar; Plessis, Anton du; Roux, Stéphan; Seland, Frode; Su, Huaneng; Pollet, Bruno G.

doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2015.07.169

Cited by 45 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Thermal conductivity for the composite material is found to be higher than that of the pure GDL material. This is the case even though MPL material alone has a low thermal conductivity, 0.08 ± 0.02 W K -1 m -1 in the case of a very similar MPL as reported in (14). The fact that a material consisting of two materials with low thermal conductivity (GDLonly and MPL-only) comprise a material with a higher thermal conductivity (the composite) might appear contradictory but must be seen in the light of similar materials as pointed out in a previous work from our group (14).…”

Section: Thermal Conductivitysupporting

confidence: 54%

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Experimental Study of Thermal Conductivity and Compression Measurements of the GDL-MPL Interfacial Composite Region

et al. 2016

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MPL and GDL in a PEM fuel cell assembly are often treated as separate layers in the literature. However, there exists a considerable interfacial region where the two different materials merge. The MPL consists of fine carbon particles, a binder and a solvent that is applied on top of the fibrous GDL. In the process of coating, the MPL intrudes into the GDL and forms an MPL-GDL-composite region. This region has properties that differ from either of the materials that it consists of. Through-plane thermal conductivity and thickness variation under different compaction pressures were measured for such a composite region of commercial gas diffusion layer (GDL), Freudenberg H1410, and custom-made MPL. Thermal conductivity at 9.2 bar compaction pressure for GDL only is 0.111 ± 0.009 W K-1 m-1, for MPL only 0.08 ± 0.02 W K-1 m-1, and for the composite region is 0.124 ± 0.005 W K-1 m-1. X-Ray Computed Tomography images of the materials ascertain the level of penetration for the MPL into the GDL.

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Section: Thermal Conductivitysupporting

confidence: 54%

“…An ink slurry was produced containing 11.9 wt% solid materials, a recipe formerly used and chosen here for reference (14). Vulcan EC-XC72R-50 was weighed and transferred into a bead mixing bowl.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental Study of Thermal Conductivity and Compression Measurements of the GDL-MPL Interfacial Composite Region

et al. 2016

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“…The application of a hydrophobic MPL reduces the hydrophobicity in the environments with a high porosity decrease, probably because of an increased flow resistance from the inclusion of the MPL . Laboratory studies approve the important role of an MPL in improving the water management (for more details, see Table ) and thermal management, and also confirm the PEMFC performance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of an MPL on water and thermal management in a PEMFC

2018

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Summary In this study, the effects of adding a microporous layer (MPL) as well as the impact of its physical properties on polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEMFC) performance with serpentine flow channels were investigated. In addition, numerical simulations were performed to reveal the effect of relative humidity and operating temperature. It is indicated that adding an extra between the gas diffusion layer (GDL) and catalyst layer (CL), a discontinuity in the liquid saturation shows up at their interface because of differences in the wetting properties of the layers. In addition, results show that a higher MPL porosity causes the liquid water saturation to decrease and the cell performance is improved. A larger MPL thickness reduces the cell performance. The effects of MPL on temperature distribution and thermal transport of the membrane prove that the MPL in addition to being a water management layer also improves the thermal management of the PEMFC.

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“…6. Next, the thermal conductivity of the MPL was investigated by Burheim, Thomas and Andisheh-Tadbir (16)(17)(18)(19) and the thermal conductivity of the MPL-GDL composite region was estimated by Burheim later (20). 7.…”

Section: Khandelwal and Mench Reported Thermal Conductivity For Toraymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The fine material of the MPL can intrude considerably into the fiber structure of the GDL material. This forms a composite region that has physical properties that are unlike those of both of the original layer materials (20,33). The majority of thermal PEMFC simulations in literature do not take the MPL into account as a separate layer, even though it has considerable influence on the overall temperature distribution.…”

Section: Khandelwal and Mench Reported Thermal Conductivity For Toraymentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermal Conductivity and Compaction of GDL-MPL Interfacial Composite Material

Bock

Shum

Xiao

et al. 2018

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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The microporous layer (MPL) and the gas diffusion layer (GDL) in a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell assembly are often treated as separate layers in the literature. However, there exists a considerable third region where the two different materials merge in the coating process. This region has properties that differ from either of the materials that it consists of. Through-plane thermal conductivity and thickness variation under different compaction pressures were measured for such a composite region of two different commercial GDLs, Freudenberg H1410 and Toray Paper TGP-H-030, each treated with a custom-made MPL ink. Thermal conductivity at 15 bar compaction pressure for untreated Freudenberg H1410 GDL is 0.124±0.009 W K-1 m-1 and for the custom-MPL-coated Freudenberg H1410 materials it was increased by the treatment to 0.141±0.004 W K-1 m-1 and 0.145±0.004 W K-1 m-1 for 9.9 wt% and 11.9 wt% ink, respectively. For Toray paper TGP-H-030 the thermal conductivity at 15 bar compaction pressure for GDL only is 0.449±0.009 W K-1 m-1 and for the custom-MPL-coated Toray TGP-H-030 materials it was decreased by the treatment to 0.39±0.05 W K-1 m-1 and 0.39±0.00 W K-1 m-1 for 9.9 wt% and 11.9 wt% ink, respectively.

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Thermal conductivity in the three layered regions of micro porous layer coated porous transport layers for the PEM fuel cell

Cited by 45 publications

References 26 publications

Experimental Study of Thermal Conductivity and Compression Measurements of the GDL-MPL Interfacial Composite Region

Experimental Study of Thermal Conductivity and Compression Measurements of the GDL-MPL Interfacial Composite Region

Effects of an MPL on water and thermal management in a PEMFC

Thermal Conductivity and Compaction of GDL-MPL Interfacial Composite Material

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